Page 92 - SAMENA Trends - June-July 2020

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

LeoStella Delivers First Two Satellites to BlackSky

LeoStella reports that it has delivered the the way satellites and constellations are infrastructure, tools, and processes that
first two satellites fully manufactured produced, and to minimize costs and reduce enable constellation production at scale.
from its production line. The satellites development and manufacturing time. Delivery of these satellites provides an
are the fifth and sixth of an ongoing “Successful delivery of these two BlackSky important validation of our approach.”
Earth Observation (EO) constellation satellites marks another major milestone LeoStella is a joint venture between Thales
program for BlackSky. The satellites weigh in LeoStella’s promise of rapid, low-cost, Alenia Space and Spaceflight Industries.
approximately 50 kg and are designed high-performance satellite constellations,” LeoStella’s customer BlackSky is part of
to be operated in a variety of Low-Earth said Mike Hettich, LeoStella CEO. “In a Spaceflight Industries and operates as an
Orbit (LEO) altitudes and inclinations. The short time, we have created the designs, independent company.
satellites were delivered to the launch
facility on June 1, 2020 and have been
prepared for an upcoming SpaceX launch
from Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
LeoStella will be manufacturing 20
satellites for the BlackSky constellation.
LeoStella says its intelligent manufacturing
facility, which opened in Tukwila,
Washington in 2019, is the first of its kind.
The factory is a fully digital and networked
environment that includes intelligent
workstations, connected tools, automated
test equipment, statistical process control,
embedded product assurance, and a
custom Manufacturing Resource Planning
(MRP) backbone that manages and tracks
all activities. The company said the
production facility was designed change

Optus Signs Contract for Ku-Band Sixth Satellite to Launch in 2023

Australian telco Optus announced that history. "Optus 11 will add capacity and that the satellite's footprint, once in the
it has signed a deal with Airbus Defence resilience to our satellite fleet and its sky, would reach from Antarctica to the
and Space for a new OneSat satellite unique capabilities will give our broadcast Cocos Islands, and a "vast majority" of
that will be known as Optus 11, which customers the option to tailor their dynamic the Pacific. "It will have the ability to cover
is set to cover Australasia when it is video delivery via IP streaming, and our oceans previously out of reach to Optus
launched in 2023. Optus touted the Ku- broadband customers can benefit from and provide tracking spot beams coverage
band satellite as software-defined, which better performance and higher individual to planes and vessels anywhere within the
would allow it to be "fully configurable" throughputs," Optus managing director Optus 11 footprint," White said. Elsewhere
once launched. "Its location, coverage, of wholesale, satellite, and strategy Ben on Thursday, Vodafone Australia said it
bandwidth, and capacity can be changed White said. "In addition, it will support would begin offering a 250Mbps NBN plan,
in orbit as customer demands evolve -- the Optus mobile network using satellite as well as a plan labelled Ultra that might
where traditional satellites are limited by backhaul and the government's Mobile offer up to 1Gbps speeds. Both plans will
on-ground configurations that cannot be Black Spot Programs. The spacecraft's have unlimited data, with the 250Mbps
altered after launch," the telco said. Optus ground-breaking design is a very exciting plan costing AU$135 each month, and
11 will sit in a geostationary orbit, and will development and software-defined the Ultra AU$155 a month. Upload speeds
be the sixth Optus owns. The company satellites will become the future of this for the plans are 25Mbps and 50Mbps,
said the new addition would make the size industry." The telco has already signed Sky respectively, and are available on NBN's
of its satellite fleet the largest in Australia's New Zealand as a customer and added cable and full fiber networks.

92 JUNE-JULY 2020