Page 90 - SAMENA Trends - May-June 2022

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OneWeb Agrees Satellite Launch Program with New Space India

network that will deliver high-speed, low-
latency connectivity. Sunil Bharti Mittal,
OneWeb Executive Chairman, said: ‘This
most recent agreement on launch plans
adds considerable momentum to the
development of OneWeb’s network, as we
work together across the space industry
toward our common goal of connecting
communities globally.’ The launch contract
follows a separate agreement between
OneWeb and SpaceX to enable the
company to resume satellite launches,
announced in March. Detailed terms of
the agreement with New Space India are
confidential. OneWeb had cancelled an
existing agreement with Russian space
agency RosCosMos following Russia’s
OneWeb, the Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite satellite launch program. The first launch invasion of Ukraine, and stopped launching
communications operator part-owned by the with New Space India is anticipated in 2022 satellites from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur
UK government, has sealed an agreement from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre spaceport, leased to Russia. OneWeb has
with New Space India, the commercial arm (SDSC), adding to OneWeb’s current total so far activated its network for remote parts
of the Indian Space Research Organization, in-orbit constellation of 428 satellites (66% of the globe above 50 degrees north, with
to help ensure OneWeb completes its of its planned total fleet) to build a global early partners already initiating services.

NTT and SKY Perfect JSAT Establish Space Compass for GEO Satellite

Broadband

Japanese companies Nippon Telegraph NTT Corp, its mobile arm NTT DOCOMO, network, and confirmed that the initial
& Telephone Corp (NTT Corp) and SKY Airbus and SKY Perfect JSAT announced phase will involve exploring the use of the
Perfect JSAT Corp have agreed to set up a a joint collaboration on the feasibility of Airbus Zephyr, dubbed as a ‘leading solar-
new joint venture (JV) company to launch developing high-altitude platform stations powered, stratospheric unmanned aerial
‘a novel integrated space computing (HAPS)-based connectivity services as system (UAS)’, alongside NTT’s and SKY
network’ starting with ‘optical and wireless part of ‘a future space-based wireless Perfect’s wireless networks to test HAPS
communication network[s] to be built in connectivity ecosystem’. The parties connectivity, identify practical applications,
space and the mobile network to be built in reportedly entered into a memorandum of develop required technologies and
the stratosphere’. The press release went understanding (MoU) to identify the early ultimately launch space-based wireless
on to note: ‘In FY2024, Space Compass deployment requirements of a HAPS-based broadband services.
will launch an optical data relay service
for high speed transmission to the ground
via a geostationary orbit (GEO) satellite.
This will carry a vast amount of diverse
data collected in space by observation
satellites. Existing services, which transmit
data directly to ground stations, have
communication capacity limits imposed
by the use of radio waves as well as limits
on the time at which ground stations can
communicate with observation satellites.
In contrast, optical transmission via a GEO
will enable high-capacity, quasi-real-time
data transmission.’ As previously reported
by CommsUpdate, in January this year

90 MAY-JUNE 2022