Page 120 - SAMENA Trends - September-October 2022

SATELLITE UPDATES SAMENA TRENDS

OneWeb to Restart Broadband Satellite Launches

Satellite operator OneWeb, which is partly owned by the UK has allowed us to successfully navigate the everchanging global
Government, has announced that 36 of their Low Earth Orbit (LEO) environment and prepare for yet another milestone launch. We are
based ultrafast broadband satellites have just arrived at the Satish proud of our ability to adapt and remain on track to deliver global
Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota, India, ahead of an expected connectivity in the hardest to reach places. With many thanks to our
launch to space next month. The operator has already launched top-of-the line partners ISRO and NSIL, as well as our shareholder
428 of their small c.150kg LEO based ultrafast (100Mbps+) and Bharti Global for their continued stewardship, we were able to
low-latency (sub-100ms) broadband satellites into space – orbiting facilitate this upcoming pioneering launch in Sriharikota India.”
at an altitude of around 1,200km – and their initial plan is to build Radhakrishnan D, Chairman-cum-MD, NewSpace India Limited,
a constellation of 648 (588 are needed for coverage – the rest are added: “Undertaking the launch of 36 OneWeb satellites on-board
for redundancy), which is enough for a reasonable level of global GSLV-MkIII from India is a historic moment for NSIL and ISRO.
coverage. This is due to complete by the end of 2023. However, We are excited to see the arrival of the satellites and the Ground
readers may recall that a lot of their prior launches took place in Support Equipment in India in preparation for the launch. Teams at
Russia, which ended after the invasion of Ukraine set off a chain NSIL/ ISRO are sincerely working towards providing the best of the
of events that continues to unfold (here). The operator ended up Launch Service solutions and support for OneWeb satellites, and
taking a £200m hit after Russia blocked the launch of 36 satellites we wish their teams great success in their forthcoming activities
and impounded them (here), which left OneWeb with the unenviable at SDSC-SHAR and launch.” The launch will be the company’s 14th
task of needing to find new launch partners. The good news is that overall, and the satellites will be put into orbit by the heaviest ISRO
they were able to find solutions with both rival SpaceX (here) and rocket, the GSLV-MkIII (pictured – top). One additional launch will
New Space India Limited (NSIL) – here, which is the commercial then take place this year, and three more are targeted for early next
arm of the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). After year to complete the constellation. The announcement doesn’t say
a lot of work, the next batch of OneWeb’s GEN1 LEO spacecraft when OneWeb’s launch will take place, although publicly available
has now been shipped to India’s Satish Dhawan Space Centre data on launch schedules suggests that the related “OneWeb 1A”
(SDSC – SHAR) in Sriharikota, ready for launch. Neil Masterson, mission – with an estimated launch cost of between $46m to
OneWeb CEO, said: “OneWeb’s dedication to industry collaboration $62m – is projected to take place by the end of October 2022.

Speedcast to Offer Starlink Service to Enterprise and Maritime Customers

Speedcast, a global communications and network service provider, significant leap in connectivity will open even more possibilities for
will begin offering Starlink‘s high-speed, low-latency connectivity to companies to manage operations anywhere on Earth.”
its enterprise and maritime customers as part of a deal announced
today at The World Satellite Business Week Summit in Paris. Starlink
introduced its enterprise and maritime connectivity services
and equipment earlier this year, delivered via the world’s largest
constellation of highly advanced satellites operating in low Earth
orbit. From oil rigs and merchant vessels to mine sites and yachts,
Starlink allows users to connect from the most remote locations
and waters across the world. Speedcast designs and deploys
technology and frequency-agnostic solutions for customers
to deliver the highest levels of performance and operational
efficiency. The company has been supporting customer trials to
demonstrate the capabilities of Starlink as part of a seamlessly
integrated service. “Starlink is an exciting new communications
pathway for customers, offering significant diversity and added
capacity at a time when remote sites continue to push to the
farthest ends of the Earth and when bandwidth demand is ever
increasing,” says Joe Spytek, chief executive officer at Speedcast.
“As a trusted, agnostic integrator of next-generation technologies
for customers, we’re excited to add Starlink to our toolkit to make
ubiquitous connectivity a reality for remote operations around the
world.” “We’re excited to provide Starlink’s high-speed, low-latency
internet to Speedcast enterprise and maritime customers,” says
Jonathan Hofeller, vice president of Starlink sales at SpaceX. “This

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