Page 78 - SAMENA Trends - February-March 2021

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

Viasat Pushes ViaSat-3 Satellite Launch to 2022

Viasat has pushed back the launch of its previous quarter, Viasat had targeted a change in administration” to affect the
first ViaSat-3 satellite, and does not expect late 2021 launch. Baldridge also said it will Government Systems segment in the
to launch the satellite until early 2022. CEO take several months after the satellite is very near-term. Backlog at the end of the
Rick Baldridge said during the company’s launched for it to be in full service, because quarter is over $1 billion, a 12% increase
Third Quarter (Q3) 2021 financial report it is a “very complicated overall system” Year-over-Year (YOY). Satellite Services
call on Thursday that work on the program that must go through thorough testing. and Commercial Networks saw modest
has been hindered by a wave of COVID-19 The company reported $576 million in revenue increases. Satellite Service
cases in Arizona. Viasat is preparing to revenue in Q3 2021, a 2% decrease from revenue in Q3 was $221 million, up 4%
deliver the first satellite payload to Boeing, the same quarter in 2020. Revenue grew over Q3 2020. Viasat reported 596,000
which will begin the final phase of the sequentially, up from $554 million in Q2. subscribers, down from 603,000 at the
countdown to launch readiness. “We Net income in Q3 was $6.8 million, an end of the prior quarter. The company
continue to make really good progress on increase of 4.6% during the quarter in the attributed the subscriber decline due to
the program and we’re moving closer to year prior. Viasat had a busy Q3 in terms bandwidth supply constraints, sustained
delivery of the first payload. The record of new deals, and the operator highlighted demand for premium service plans,
COVID spikes seen in the quarter, especially its agreement to acquire RigNet, and the and network planning to accommodate
in Arizona where our payload facilities are remainder of the wholesale broadband increases in passengers and planes in
located … haven’t worked in our favor. joint venture in Europe, the addition of SKY service. Commercial Networks saw $90
They’ve caused some intermittent work Brasil as a broadband distribution partner, million in revenue, 6% growth over the
delays both internally and with our supply and the In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) deal same period in 2020. Awards in the quarter
chain in the recent quarter,” Baldridge said. with Delta Air Lines. Government Systems, for this segment grew 75% YoY to $235
ViaSat-3 is a constellation of three ultra- Viasat’s segment with the most revenue, million with the first terminal orders under
high-capacity satellites that will deliver reported $265 million in Q3 revenue, a 9% the Delta Air Lines win, and a large next-
broadband service to residential, aviation decrease from Q3 2020. Viasat expects generation antenna program.
and government transport users. In the “transient effects associated with the

South Korean Researchers Develop Small Satellite Communications Device
Operable During Disasters

Researchers in South Korea have developed a small phone. Previously, satellite terminals had to go through a repeater in the
satellite communication device that can quickly restore middle of the communication, causing a delay of about 0.5 seconds during
communication networks in case of disaster. This could the calling process. However, the delay time using the new chip has been
be essential to getting people help quickly when they reduced to point-2-5 seconds, since the receiver and the transmitter are
need it. Typhoons accompanied by strong winds and connected directly through the satellite. This technology, which has been
heavy rain, and massive earthquakes striking cities. tested for use with the South Korean Chollian satellite, is expected to be
These catastrophic disasters are bound to destroy placed into disaster sites after being tested by agencies and the military.
critical urban communications infrastructure and if It is also set to be exported to island or desert countries where wide-area
base stations were to get damaged, mobile networks communications networks cannot be accessed.
and the internet would immediately be paralyzed. In
South Korea, researchers from the Electronics and
Telecommunications Research Institute have developed
a small piece of satellite communications equipment,
which can act as a base station in the event of such
emergencies. The transmitter and receiver, which can
fit into a coin-sized chip, automatically identifies the
location of satellites floating in the earth's orbit, in order
to establish a communications network. "In the event of
a disaster, such as typhoons or earthquakes, the ground
network may collapse. We developed a chip and a device
that provides emergency communication services using
communications satellites." Once the chip is inserted
into the device, it can immediately be used as a satellite

78 FEB-MAR 2021