The former president and CEO of TerreStar, Robert Brumley, has launched a new satellite business that plans to operate the world’s first commercial satellite communications constellation based entirely on optical wave technology. Entitled Laser Light…
The former president and CEO of TerreStar, Robert Brumley, has launched a new satellite business that plans to operate the world’s first commercial satellite communications constellation based entirely on optical wave technology.
Entitled Laser Light Communications, the venture intends to develop a constellation of 12 interconnected MEO satellites, 8 primary with 4 in-orbit spares, that would connect with the global fibre optic network, both terrestrial and undersea. The company argues that this would create a meshed world-wide optical network that could deliver large quantities of bandwidth to potential enterprise and government customers.
The system is based on Raytheon’s patent-pending StarBeam optical-wave satellite technology that has been developed over the past two decades to send data from satellites to Earth via high powered lasers. The companies estimate that the constellation will have a capacity of 4.8 terabits per second, including satellite to satellite optical crosslinks and satellite to ground optical up/down links of 200Gbps.
Speaking to SatelliteFinance, Brumley said that the timing of the launch annoucement, at the Euroconsult World Satellite Business Week in Paris in mid-September, was due to Laser Light having secured the exclusive IP and operational rights to Raytheon’s technology. As part of that deal, Raytheon will provide the payload for the constellation.
Brumley estimates that the total cost of the venture will be around US$1.5bn and no more than US$2bn. He added that the company is looking to raise financing to help fund this and expects to announce the appointment of the relevant financial, legal and technical advisers by the end of the year.
With Laser Light aiming to roll out commercial services by mid-2017, based on the first satellites being launched at the beginning of that year, the company intends to select its prime vendor, launch provider and ground segment over the course of the next year.
Brumley said that Laser Light is already in the process of signing non-disclosure RfP agreements with satellite manufacturers and launch providers and has begun discussing the technical specifications of the system. Raytheon will also help with the selection process.
As to whether Laser Light would consider tapping export credit agency funding support for the constellation, Brumley said: “Every vendor that I have talked to has put ECA support on the table. It has become de rigueur in raising financing for satellite projects.”
Laser Light will also begin to source distribution partners and undergo a series of field tests throughout the 2013 and 2014 period. Brumley said early stage talks over reciprocal Indefeasible right of use (IRU) are already underway with a number of distributers.
Outlining the company’s business plan, Brumley said: “We will act as a wholesaler, bringing huge amounts of bandwidth to a point of presence. We plan to sign pre-subscription contracts as a way to validate the business. In a year, we expect to have solid IRUs in place for pre-subscription.”
Skips spectrum regulation
A key element of the Laser Light optical wave system is that as it does not use radio frequency spectrum it does not require spectrum licensing or frequency coordination.
The company states: “Optical satellite systems are not susceptible to interference from one to another system or equipment since the point-to-point laser signal is extremely difficult to intercept. This means that it does not fall under the regulations of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) in terms of frequency allocation and spectrum regulations. National regulatory institutions, as far as we are aware, have not initiated regulatory measures for satellite optical communication in relation to interference.”
Brumley said that the company has already held preliminary meetings with the Federal Communications Commission over its plans and intends to set some ‘rules of the road’ regulation over the next couple of weeks.
Laser Light has also been in contact with the UK communications regulator Ofcom and the International Telecommunication Union and has filed a notification with the latter to register its planned space assets.
The Terrestar Team
The company is a wholly-owned spin out of Pegasus Global Holdings, a US-based technology investment firm led by Brumley that specialises in commercialising government and strategic technology research. He will serve as Laser Light’s senior managing director while ex-TerreStar COO Michael Reedy will become its managing director alongside Clifford Beek, the former senior VP of TerreStar Communications.
Brumley was in charge of MSS operator Terrestar during its start-up period, raising substantial amounts of debt and equity financings in order to fund the system. Both he and Michael Reedy left the company in April 2008, prior to the launch and operation of Terrestar-1 the following year.
