ViaSat has picked Boeing to deliver satellite bus platforms in 2019 for the first two of three planned 1 Tbps payloads, each capable of delivering the total network capacity of all commercial spacecraft currently in orbit.
ViaSat (NASDAQ:VSAT) has picked Boeing (NYSE:BA) to deliver satellite bus platforms in 2019 for the first two of three planned 1 Tbps payloads, each capable of delivering the total network capacity of all commercial spacecraft currently in orbit.
The satellite operator is building the Ka-band payloads in an untypical partnership for the industry that sees it as overall system architect for the ViaSat-3 project. Boeing is upgrading its latest 702 ultra-high power satellite platform for the payloads, and will also provide engineering expertise, integration and mission services.
The first 6,400 kg satellite will focus on the Americas, the second on EMEA, and an Asia Pacific-targeting bird will come later to complete the group’s global coverage. The latter will be California-based ViaSat’s first product in Asia.
ViaSat chairman and CEO Mark Dankberg said: “The innovations in the ViaSat-3 system do what until now has been impossible in the telecommunications industry – combining enormous network capacity with global coverage, and dynamic flexibility to allocate resources according to geographic demand.
“While there are multiple companies and consortia with ambitions to connect the world with telecom, satellite and space technologies, ViaSat-3 gives us the key technologies in hand now to move to the next step in building the first broadband platform to bring high-speed internet connectivity, including video streaming, to all.”
Financial details have not been disclosed, although Dankberg was cited in a conference call outlining plans to spend around US$1.4bn on its satellite broadband strategy over five years.
The ViaSat-3 system aims to provide more than 100 Mbps for residential internet services and 4K ultra-high definition video streaming, and up to 1 Gbps for maritime and enterprise applications such as oil and gas. It is also being designed to deliver inflight services and affordable satellite Wi-Fi connectivity to emerging markets.
In an interview with SatelliteFinance in November, COO Rick Baldridge said the group sees “tremendous opportunity” for inflight broadband on a global basis.
Although Baldridge believes there is an oversupply of expensive bandwidth coming onto the market, he said this was not the case for cheaper capacity, adding that the group is looking to price its products at “something very close to cable”.
Helping to reduce network capacity costs and improve transmission speeds will be ViaSat-3’s use of cloud services for its ground segment, and its compatibility with terminals that are already being deployed for ViaSat-2, a HTS Ka-band satellite that SpaceX was due to launch this year on one of its first Falcon Heavy missions. Coinciding with the ViaSat-3 announcement, the operator said Arianespace will now be lofting that bird in Q1 2017.
A Falcon Heavy rocket, which has recently faced deployment delays, will instead be used to launch a ViaSat-3 bird around 2020.
Along with the ViaSat-2 order announcement, Arianespace said it has been contracted to launch one ViaSat-3 satellite by late 2019/early 2020.
Boeing built ViaSat-2 and the spacecraft is being supported by a US$525m loan that was secured in 2014 from Export Import Bank, the US export credit agency. Ex-Im lost its mandate for much of 2015 and, although was reauthorised in December, it is still not yet able to sign off large loans.
ViaSat-2 is expected to more than double the record-breaking 140Gbps capacity of the operator’s first Ka-band bird ViaSat-1 once it is launched.
Built by Boeing’s US rival SSL, ViaSat-1 was launched in 2011 and was at the centre of a patent infringement and breach of contract lawsuit between its operator and manufacturer.
In April 2014, a jury found that SSL had infringed on certain ViaSat patents when it built high throughput satellites for other operators. It subsequently awarded the company US$283m in damages but this was overturned that August by a court considering post-trial motions, though the original trial’s verdict was left intact.
The companies later reached a US$100m settlement, the largest ever settlement for a commercial satellite communications intellectual property matter.
That deal allows SSL to continue using the 10 patents-in-suit, as well as certain other patents and patent applications, without the threat of litigation from ViaSat or its breach of contract claims.
ViaSat and Eutelsat create broadband joint venture
ViaSat has announced a joint venture with European satellite fleet operator Eutelsat (EPA:ETL), initially leveraging on the latter’s high capacity broadband satellite KA-SAT.
The partnership will create two entities to coordinate efforts to expand the European broadband market.
The first will see Eutelsat transfer its KA-SAT and other wholesale satellite broadband assets to a newly formed subsidiary in exchange for a 51% stake in the unit. ViaSat will buy a 49% stake in the new venture for €132.5m (US$148.4m).
The second entity will focus on purchasing wholesale satellite capacity services and offering retail satellite internet broadband services within Europe.
This entity will be formed as a subsidiary under ViaSat, which will take a 51% stake in it. Eutelsat is buying 49% of the shares for an immaterial amount.
ViaSat expects to close the transactions in Q2 2016, subject to regulatory approvals.
Dankberg said: “We complement each other extremely well. We offer a powerful team to close the digital divide in Europe today and well into the future. The joint venture combines an unprecedented collection of expertise in satellite operations and technology, broadband networks, and wholesale and retail distribution throughout Europe that forms the foundation for next-generation internet services. We’re excited to be working with Eutelsat to bring a proven model to the European and Mediterranean markets.”
