Editorially Speaking: "Should Amazon Acquire Telesat" Feature:"Satellite to Cell Phone - Omnispace's Amazing Vision" with CEO Ram Viswatathan "Emerging Opportunities for Phased Arrays on U.S. Warships" with ThinKom CTO William Milroy "Enhancing the User Experience in Mobility Networks" with Reza Rasoulian Hughes V.P. Broadband Satellite Services "Thales Unveils MissionLINK and VesseLINK 200 Terminals"
In This Issue...
Table of Contents Industry Trends and Analysis: (pg. 3) Patee Sarasin, former CEO of Nok Air: "Unlocking the Riches of In-flight Wi-Fi" (pg. 4) David Bruner, former V.P. Panasonic Avionics: "Buckle Up! :Turbulence Ahead in Airline Connectiviy Markets" (pg. 15) "The Promise of the New Iridium and Aireon Services: Big Advancements in Air Traffic Management on the Horizon" (pg. 26) Ernst Peter Hovinga, CEO Hiber: "Disrupting the Satellite IoT Connectivity Market: The Promise of Hiber" (p.31) "Upcoming and Recommended Satellite Mobility Events" Pg. 38)
Satellite mobility World
Highlighting Disruptive, New, Mobility-Focused Satellite Ventures and Technologies
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Volume VI, No. VI June 2021
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Welcome to the June 2021 Issue of Satellite Mobility World. This month we're focusing on Omnispace. In our feature interview, Satellite to Cell Phone - Omnispace's Amazing Vision, CEO Ram Viswatahan, reveals the company's unique business model. Starting with the acquisition of the old ICO satellite, Omnispace plans to build the first fully integrated, global satellite and mobile phone network. When complete, it will enable mobile phone users across the globe to roam seamlessly from their terrestrial networks direct to satellite - all on ordinary mobile phones. As aggressive as it sounds, this venture is real and well on its way to fruition. Next, with ThinKom CTO William Milroy, we look at the enormous opportunities ahead for phased array antennas on the U.S. Navy's warships. Find out how and why these new antennas will play a critical role in the Service's communications infrastructure. Following that, we turn to Hughes Network System's V.P. of Broadband Solutions, Reza Rasoulian to understand how HNS, using its multi-tranpsort solution, automatically matches the IP stream from GEO, LEO or terrestrial networks to the application in use, delivering the optimal end-user experience. Lastly, we unveil Thales smaller versions of its popular VesseLINK and MissionLINK terminals. These "200" series terminals, designed for use on small vessels and in mobile land application, are definitely worthy of interest. In our editorial section, find out why we believe Amazon will acquire Telesat. Join us as we explore the logic behind what could be the industry's next buyout. Enjoy! Satellite and Mobility World is published monthly (except August) by Gottlieb International Group., Inc. Suite 100, 1209 South Frederick Street, Arlington, VA USA 22204 © Copyright 2021 (Tel +1-703-622-8520)
Table of Contents... "Hot News and Commentary" (pg.3) "SmallSat News and Ventures" (pg. 4) Editorially Speaking: "Should Amazon Acquire Telesat?" (pg.6) "Satellite to Cell Phone - Omnispace's Amazing Vision" with CEO Ram Viswatathan (pg.9) "Emerging Opportunities for Phased Arrays on U.S. Warships" with ThinKom CTO William Milroy (pg. 20) "Enhancing the User Experience in Mobility Networks" with HNS V.P. of Broadband Solutions, Reza Rasoulian (pg.28) "Thales Unveils New MissionLINK and VesseLINK 200 Terminals" pg. 36) Upcoming and Recommended Mobility Events (pg.40)
SATELLITE MOBILITY WORLD
Hot News and Commentary
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship Transforms Ocean Science with the Help of Iridium® MCLEAN, Va., May 27, 2021 -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced that the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) has selected Iridium and partner Thales Group as its Official Communications Partner, providing critical real-time communications for the fully autonomous transatlantic research vessel. Anticipated to set sail in Spring 2021, its first mission will be to take on the same transatlantic crossing of the original 17th century Mayflower, while gathering critical environmental data regarding climate change, ocean acidity, plastic pollution, marine mammal conservation, and more. In addition to its scientific mission, the crewless voyage will deliver important insights for the autonomous shipping movement underway in the maritime industry. Iridium, a leader in enabling the digitalization of vessels through satellite communications, is providing Iridium Certus weather-resilient broadband connectivity which can help remotely manage vessel operations including command and control, tracking, propulsion system diagnostics and more. The autonomous shipping movement is expected to gradually evolve to both limited crew and crewless vessels as remote piloting systems and regulatory requirements are further developed, and will help propel the maritime industry forward while providing significant cost-benefits for each vessel. Isotropic Systems and SES GS Complete Milestone Trials to Unlock Next-Gen Connectivity for U.S. Military Successful multi-beam, over-the-air tests in the UK and US advance multi-beam antenna development London / Reston, VA, 3 June – SES Government Solutions (SES GS), a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES, and Isotropic Systems, a leading developer of transformational broadband terminal technologies, announce the successful completion of the first of two milestone next-generation antenna trials with the U.S. Military aimed at unleashing unprecedented information distribution to warfighters across the battlefield. The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Army, through the innovative Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program, are evaluating the ability of Isotropic Systems’ optical beamforming antenna to enable frontline armed forces to access high-speed, real-time data simultaneously over multiple commercial and military satellites. First phase dual-beam tests conducted at the Harwell Science, Technology and Innovation Campus near Oxford, UK, have successfully demonstrated transformational optics at the core of Isotropic Systems’ multi-beam terminal that are fully capable of linking with multiple satellites at the same time. Over-the-air (OTA) trials conducted at an SES teleport in Port St. Lucie, Florida, also part of phase one, have verified the Isotropic Systems’ high-performance multi-beam platform meets military requirements to acquire and track SES’ O3b MEO satellites. Phase two trials will test Isotropic Systems’ latest antenna prototype over links with SES satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO) and medium earth orbit (MEO), demonstrating seamless satellite-to-satellite transitions and a redundant, resilient leap in wartime communications. The DEUCSI trials will wrap up in 2021, ahead of the commercial launch of Isotropic Systems’ optical multi-beam antenna production scheduled for 2022, and in time to support SES’ new high-throughput MEO constellation satellites coming online, the groundbreaking O3b mPOWER system. Hanwha Systems $30M Investment into Kymeta Corp. Approved by CFIUS REDMOND, Wash.-- May 26, 2021 (BUSINESS WIRE)--Kymeta Corporation (www.kymetacorp.com)—the communications company making mobile global—announced today that the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) has approved a $30 million investment by Hanwha Systems Co., Ltd. (HSC) (www.hanwha.com), a leading global solutions company that provides differentiated smart technologies in defense electronics and information infrastructure, in Kymeta. The approval provided by CFIUS clears the way for HSC and Kymeta to close on the transaction that was jointly announced last December. The investment moves Kymeta one step closer toward developing solutions that are future proof and interoperable with both LEO and GEO mega constellations. Today, the Kymeta™ u8 is the only commercially available flat panel antenna that is compatible with LEO and GEO satellite constellations and enabled to take advantage of the growing capacity within space. “We are thrilled that the investment is approved and eager to leverage Kymeta’s expertise in hybrid satellite and cellular connectivity solutions,” said Youn Chul Kim, CEO of HSC. “Kymeta’s solutions will further our aerospace capabilities and deliver reliable communications for our defense customers.” “We look forward to moving ahead and working with HSC,” said Doug Hutcheson, Executive Chairman, Kymeta. “We believe this investment will be instrumental in enabling the continued innovation, advancement and commercialization of Kymeta’s connectivity solutions. We’re excited about the future of Kymeta and the LEO satellite market.” The investment from HSC will further Kymeta’s global market reach, accelerate production, and improve the overall growth trajectory of the company. The funding will support increased unit production, enhanced customer experience, and the ongoing development of Kymeta’s next generation capabilities. With the capital investment HSC will also receive a seat on the Kymeta Board of Directors. HSC plans to support Kymeta’s metamaterial-based antenna technology and gain a foothold in the rapidly growing Low Earth Orbit (LEO) antenna market. Kymeta Achieves ISO 9001 Certification For Global Quality REDMOND, Wash.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Kymeta (www.kymetacorp.com), the communications company making mobile global, is proud to announce it has received ISO 9001:2015 certification. ISO 9001:2015 is the world's most widely recognized quality management standard. This standard was selected to validate Kymeta’s quality management system specifically to meet the quality expectations and requirements of Kymeta’s customers, partners, and suppliers. The International Organization for Standardization developed the ISO 9001:2015 standard to standardize quality management systems across multiple industries. Setting the bar for quality management system performance, ISO certification validates Kymeta has the right processes in place to support the wider business strategy. Focus on risk-based thinking and accountability in all organizational processes helps to improve communications, efficiency, and implementation of continuous improvement. “The Kymeta culture is built on commitment to both our customers and our employees,” said Walter Berger, President, and COO at Kymeta. “We want to build quality into every process, and every employee is responsible for quality. We are deeply committed to the timely delivery of reliable, high-quality products and services, delighting our customers, and providing superior customer support. Through the ISO 9001:2015 certification, Kymeta has validated its quality management system to provide the processes necessary to support our commitment.” The road to certification requires both time and dedication on behalf of all Kymeta employees. After a year of significant growth, even during the disruptions caused by COVID-19, Kymeta moved toward enhancing corporate policies, procedures, and tools to ensure scalable and repeatable delivery of high-quality products and services. Kymeta’s quality management system helps ensure that Kymeta customers, partners, and suppliers receive consistent, high-quality products and services, which in turn brings many business benefits. Kymeta supports connectivity services by design and assembly of flat panel satellite terminals. The quality management system helps drive the maturity of major processes such as customer service, new product introduction, connectivity services, supply chain activities, and manufacturing as examples. Kymeta’s QMS brings a clear, actionable, and thorough approach to the vital components of a successful mission-first organization and positions Kymeta well for the next round of corporate growth. Gilat Extends Multi-Million Dollar IoT Project in Latin America Petah Tikva, Israel, May 26, 2021 — Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT, TASE: GILT), a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, solutions and services, announced today the extension of its multi-million dollar IoT project in Latin America. Tier-1 MNO extends coverage of Gilat’s cellular backhaul solution as it expands its Agriculture IoT network. The Agribusiness IoT market addresses a critical need to better provide communication between the field and the office. Gilat provides the 4G network expansion to support the growing business with connectivity of machines that require real-time control and monitoring of harvesters and agricultural tractors. This ensures cost-effective decisions, better crop management and greater speed, efficiency and productivity in the production flow. “Gilat’s leading 4G cellular backhaul solution supports applications such as the exciting IoT market,” said Michal Aharonov, Senior Vice President Global Broadband Networks at Gilat. “We are proud to further solidify our partner’s IoT Agribusiness network delivering increased productivity to the farming industry in rural Latin America.” Iridium Makes Strategic Investment in DDK Positioning, Provider of Enhanced GNSS Accuracy Solutions DDK Positioning Solutions Utilize the Iridium® Satellite Constellation to Deliver Five Centimeter GNSS Accuracy to Industrial IoT Users MCLEAN, Va., May 24, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Iridium Communications Inc. (NASDAQ: IRDM) today announced that it has made a strategic investment in DDK Positioning (DDK), an Aberdeen, Scotland based provider of enhanced Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) accuracy solutions. DDK uses the Iridium® network to provide global precision positioning services that can augment GNSS constellations, including GPS and Galileo, to significantly enhance their accuracy for critical industrial applications. DDK is also developing similar services for other GNSS constellations, such as GLONASS and Beidou. Terms of the investment are not being disclosed. Standard positioning accuracy through a system like GPS is typically within 10 meters; however, by using the Iridium network, DDK's enhanced GPS accuracy service brings incredibly precise positioning of five centimeters or less. This advanced level of accuracy is ideal for autonomous vehicles like UAVs, precision agriculture applications, offshore infrastructure projects such as windfarm construction, automotive applications like driverless cars, as well as a host of construction, mining, surveying and IoT use cases. Historically, there have been limited geostationary satellite provider options for this type of service, but they suffer from line-of-sight blockage issues and coverage limitations in and around Arctic and Antarctic regions. Kevin Gaffney, CEO of DDK Positioning, said, "We are delighted to have embarked on this journey with such a strong and well-respected company as Iridium. This partnership is a perfect fit for DDK Positioning, with Iridium's satellite communications network and our GNSS solution, we are in a position to deliver a truly unique service which is robust, resilient and secure." Gaffney continued that, "The investment made by Iridium will also allow us to grow the company even further whilst expanding our service offering globally." According to a report published by the European Global Navigation Satellite Systems Agency, augmentation services like those offered by DDK will account for $76.5 billion (€65 billion) in global GNSS market revenue by 2029, while the global GNSS downstream market, including services delivered and hardware devices, is estimated to reach $382 billion (€325 billion). "We are impressed with the team that DDK has put together and see great potential for this technology and how it takes advantage of the Iridium network," said Iridium CEO, Matt Desch. "DDK's enhanced positioning is a unique capability that adds a high-value solution on top of our existing portfolio of custom network services. Solutions from Iridium and DDK partners that are focused on precision agriculture, autonomous systems, maritime and infrastructure projects can now experience incredibly precise GNSS accuracy from anywhere on the plane Isotropic Systems Accelerates Product Evolution through ARTES Competitiveness & Growth (C&G) Development Contract Awarded by the European Space Agency London, UK – 25th May, 2021 – Isotropic Systems, a leading developer of transformational broadband terminal technologies, today announces a major development contract with the European Space Agency (ESA) supported by the UK Space Agency (UKSA). Isotropic Systems has received commitment of over €18.5m from the UK Space Agency, to co-fund the activity implemented through the Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems (ARTES) C&G programme of the European Space Agency, which enables industry to translate innovative concepts into leading-edge satcom products and services. The development contract ensures oversight of ESA’s experts and the technical integrity of Isotropic’s path to product launch in early 2022. This milestone also secures UK tech sector jobs growth, adding over 150 highly skilled engineering roles in the UK over the next two years. And with a new 20,000 sq. ft. technology and testing centre opening in Reading, the Company will also develop custom ASIC designs as well as several other advanced technologies at the heart of Isotropic Systems’ technology. Isotropic Systems is already working closely with a broad range of public and private sector UK organisations, including QinetiQ, Satellite Applications Catapult and Innovate UK, as well as the UK’s Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). The new contracts follow Isotropic Systems’ recent funding round, which successfully raised over $40m from SES, specialised space investors Orbital Ventures, UK government’s Future Fund and existing investors Boeing HorizonX Global Ventures, Space Angels and Firmament Ventures. Together, the fundraising and subsequent contracts secure Isotropic Systems’ role providing vital infrastructure to the global space industry, with the Company’s unique technology enabling next-gen satellite connectivity across the globe. Commenting on the contract John Finney, Isotropic Systems CEO said: “This important milestone contract with ESA demonstrates the potential of our revolutionary terminals and will secure our role in the near-term growth of the UK and global space market. The level of support, expertise and technical oversight we receive from ESA, along with our recent fundraising, will enable us to scale our business to plan and help solve the world’s connectivity challenges across a range of applications and industries.” Domenico Mignolo, Head of Ground User Segment Technologies and Products at the European Space Agency, added:” The contract signed with Isotropic Systems, demonstrates that ARTES Competitiveness & Growth really supports SME’s ambitious plans to turn disruptive technologies into products for the satcom market.” “This ARTES-programme contract with Isotropic Systems is an exciting catalyst for growth and innovation, not only for a new generation of disruptive and transformational connectivity terminals but also high-value technology jobs supporting the growing UK space sector,” said Michael Rudd, Head of Telecommunications Strategy at the UK Space Agency. “The UK’s ambitions to grow our space sector will be realised in a large part thanks to incredibly innovative UK-based firms like Isotropic Systems.” Gilat Awarded Over $4 Million in Orders for Support of Low Earth Orbit Constellation Petah Tikva, Israel, May 20, 2021 — Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd. (Nasdaq: GILT, TASE: GILT), a worldwide leader in satellite networking technology, solutions and services, announced today that it received orders of over $4 million for support of gateways of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations. Gilat’s subsidiary, Wavestream, was chosen as the vendor of choice to supply Gateway Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) to a leading satellite operator to support the LEO constellation gateways. The orders were received as part of the previously announced contract. Wavestream is proceeding according to plan with delivery of orders for its Gateway-Class PowerStream 160Ka SSPAs, designed specifically for networks using wide bandwidth uplinks and high order modulation schemes. Wavestream’s SSPAs were selected because of their best-in-class technical performance and their unmatched reliability in harsh environments, best addressing the stringent requirements of Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) constellations installed in remote locations. “We are now manufacturing these units at an unprecedented production rate for Gateway-class SSPAs,” said Bob Huffman, Wavestream’s General Manager. “Our manufacturing capacity, product reliability, and experience with high-power Ka-Band SSPA technologies stand alone in the NGSO Gateway market.” Telesat and TIM Brasil Partner for First-of-its-Kind LEO Test in Brazil OTTAWA, CANADA and RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL, May 20, 2021 – Telesat, one of the world’s most innovative global satellite operators, and TIM Brasil, the leader in 4G coverage in the country, today announced the completion of on-orbit testing across several applications with Telesat’s Phase 1 Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite. This first-of-its-kind LEO backhaul testing in Brazil was conducted with TIM Brasil’s Innovation Department staff at their state-of-the-art teleport in Rio de Janeiro, leveraging an 85 cm Intellian parabolic antenna to uplink and downlink to the LEO satellite. Throughout the 5-day testing campaign, the teams measured 4G mobile data traffic performance over LEO, achieving an average 38ms round trip latency. All applications tested ran efficiently without interference, fading or performance breaks throughout the tests, including 1080p YouTube video streaming, video conferencing, WhatsApp voice over LTE and interface compatibility. The resulting low latency represents a compelling opportunity for operators like TIM Brasil to expand their mobile and Internet services. Brazil has very good 4G coverage in population centers, but remote communities usually cannot cost-effectively be connected to the core network through fibre or additional cell towers due to long distances and difficult terrain. These tests highlight how Telesat Lightspeed can bring multiple Gbps of affordable, high-performance backhaul connectivity to connect many underserved regions and reduce the digital divide in Brazil. With its innovative DNA, TIM Brasil is committed to achieving 100% 4G network coverage by 2023 and has been a leader in 5G testing in Brazil, even before the technology became a reality in the country. To this end, the operator opened its innovation laboratory, TIM Lab, in 2019 to test new technologies for its next-generation mobile networks. “Coverage and network reliability are critically important to mobile customers, which can be challenging to deliver in a country as large as Brazil,” said Mauro Wajnberg, General Manager, Telesat Brasil. “Telesat Lightspeed backhaul connectivity will be transformative for Mobile Network Operators like TIM Brasil, who are seeking cost-effective, enterprise-grade backhaul solutions to affordably connect all potential subscribers, no matter where they live.” “Through this testing program, we believe Telesat Lightspeed is a promising technology to expand the geographic reach of our 4G/LTE and 5G networks,” said Silmar Palmeira, Director of Architecture, Innovation and Technology at TIM Brasil. “Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite performance delivered mobile experiences comparable to our terrestrial networks and we believe Telesat Lightspeed, with a mobile-optimized hardware ecosystem, has the potential to become a core component in our future infrastructure.” Though the Telesat Lightspeed production satellites that will begin launching in approximately two years will be more capable and sophisticated, Telesat’s Phase 1 LEO satellite provides an excellent opportunity to effectively demonstrate how various applications perform over LEO and will ultimately be supported by the full Telesat Lightspeed network. Global Eagle Airconnect Ka Antenna Clears Critical Milestone toward Certification for IFC Deployment on Telesat Lightspeed LOS ANGELES - May 10, 2021: Global Eagle, the leading provider of high-speed inflight connectivity (IFC) solutions, and Telesat have cleared a critical milestone in the verification phase for Global Eagle’s Airconnect Ka IFC terminal to be used with the Telesat Lightspeed low-earth orbit (LEO) network. Telesat and Global Eagle engineers recently carried out network simulations to determine the efficiency of the antenna at flight speed and to mimic the real-world experience of use cases requiring fiber-like latency and high-speed throughput from the aircraft, including online gaming, cloud-hosted applications, and content-rich social media. Global Eagle’s Airconnect Ka system provides industry-leading efficiency in satellite communications while maintaining full performance when the target satellite is close to the horizon. This news follows Global Eagle and Telesat’s successful LEO demonstrations in October 2018, which were the first time an aircraft in flight had ever communicated at broadband speeds with a satellite operating at low earth orbit. Rigorous testing in multi-orbit configurations achieved round-trip latency of 19ms, compared to traditional geostationary satellite (GEO) networks which experience over 600ms of latency. As part of Global Eagle’s Airconnect family of terminals, Airconnect Ka shares a common design philosophy with Global Eagle’s Airconnect Ku and Airconnect Global Ku terminals with millions of flight hours of high-reliability service serving the world’s leading airlines. Google Cloud and SpaceX’s Starlink to Deliver Secure, Global Connectivity SpaceX will locate Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, providing businesses with seamless, secure access to the cloud and Internet with Google Cloud infrastructure Sunnyvale, Calif., May 13, 2021 – Google Cloud and SpaceX today announced a new partnership to deliver data, cloud services, and applications to customers at the network edge, leveraging Starlink’s ability to provide high-speed broadband internet around the world and Google Cloud’s infrastructure. Under this partnership, SpaceX will begin to locate Starlink ground stations within Google data center properties, enabling the secure, low-latency, and reliable delivery of data from more than 1,500 Starlink satellites launched to orbit to-date to locations at the network edge via Google Cloud. Google Cloud’s high-capacity private network will support the delivery of Starlink’s global satellite internet service, bringing businesses and consumers seamless connectivity to the cloud and Internet, and enabling the delivery of critical enterprise applications to virtually any location. Organizations with broad footprints, like public sector agencies, businesses with presences at the network edge, or those operating in rural or remote areas, often require access to applications running in the cloud, or to cloud services like analytics, artificial intelligence, or machine learning. Connectivity from Starlink’s constellation of low-Earth-orbit satellites provides a path for these organizations to deliver data and applications to teams distributed across countries and continents, quickly and securely. KVH Ships Record Number of VSAT Units in First Quarter 2021 Second consecutive quarter of record shipments for the #1 maritime VSAT provider by units MIDDLETOWN, R.I., May 06, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI), announced today that it shipped more than 500 VSAT satellite communications systems during the first three months of 2021, marking the second consecutive record quarter for VSAT shipments. The company also announced that it had shipped more than 12,500 aggregate VSAT units since first introducing its mini-VSAT BroadbandSM network and TracPhone® VSAT communications antenna systems in 2007. KVH’s recent record VSAT shipments come as the maritime industry is adopting digitalization as a way to optimize operations, with many fleets and commercial vessels migrating from slower legacy L-band satellite communications systems to faster VSAT systems operating on new high-throughput satellites (HTS). The newly released “Prospects for Maritime Satellite Communications, 2021,” by Euroconsult notes that KVH is the market share leader by units in maritime VSAT as of the end of 2020. Describing KVH’s recent success, KVH CEO Martin Kits van Heyningen, says: “The increasing reliance on VSAT connectivity throughout the maritime industry has increased the demand for our TracPhone VSAT systems and connectivity and our commitment to providing affordable airtime, fast data speeds, network security, IoT proactive monitoring, and value-added services.” KVH manufactures a complete line of advanced HTS antenna systems designed for a wide range of yacht and vessel types. The 37 cm diameter TracPhone V3-HTS and TracPhone V30 are fast, ultra-compact Ku-band maritime VSAT antennas designed to deliver data speeds as fast as 6 Mbps up/2 Mbps down; the TracPhone V7-HTS is a 60 cm diameter Ku-band antenna designed to deliver data speeds as fast as 10 Mbps down/3 Mbps up; and the TracPhone V11-HTS is a 1 meter Ku/C-band maritime VSAT antenna, designed to deliver worldwide data speeds as fast as 20 Mbps down/3 Mbps up. KVH is a mobile tech innovator that provides connectivity solutions for commercial maritime, leisure marine, and land mobile applications on vessels and vehicles, including the award-winning TracPhone and TracVision® product lines, the global mini-VSAT Broadband network, and AgilePlans® Connectivity as a Service (CaaS). The company’s KVH Media Group provides news, sports, and entertainment content with such brands as NEWSlink™ and SPORTSlink™.
Smallsat News and Ventures
Capella's New SAR Satellite Sees First Light May 28,2021: Capella Space achieved another major milestone week. On Friday, May 21, they released the first light image from the latest satellite we added to our SAR constellation, launched just 5 days earlier on the SpaceX Starlink 26 mission. To give a sense of why this is important, the SAR industry is used to imagery deliveries over the course of 5 days when the satellites are already launched and commissioned. In this same amount of time, we have launched, commissioned and collected imagery. This satellite joins our growing constellation, which offers the highest resolution SAR data commercially available on the market. In addition to quality, each additional satellite adds more capacity to our commercial constellation and more frequent revisit for our customers’ area of interest — providing even better and faster Earth observation data for our customers. GomSpace Chosen to Develop Advanced Satellites for Global Air Traffic Management by Indra May 28, 2021: Global technology and consulting company Indra in Spain and the Spanish Air Navigational Service Provider (ANSP) Enaire has selected GomSpace A/S to deliver a large-scale development and demonstration project including the launch of three dedicated in orbit demonstration (IOD) nanosatellites. The contract GomSpace disclosed on May 10[ ]with Indra, which is estimated to be at a value of EUR 14.5 million, is regarding the Startical project. The Startical project was announced by Indra and Enaire on May 18. The project is part of Indra and Enaire’s plan to establish a novel global air traffic management service from space, allowing aircraft everywhere to coordinate with air traffic managers using VHF and ADS-B technologies. Kongsberg Digital Adds MarineInsight by ioCurrents to Marketplace May 25, 2021: Kongsberg Digital is pleased to announce to have signed a partnership agreement with MarineInsight™ by ioCurrents. The deal will make three new software solutions available to Vessel Insight subscribers via the Kognifai Marketplace: Vessel Health, Automated Reports and Fuel & Emission Optimization. The solutions will, respectively, assist in identifying engine failure through Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence, create Automated Reports for all departments, and reduce fuel consumption based on proactive recommendations from automated data analysis. “We are delighted to announce our partnership with ioCurrents and to offer Vessel Insight subscribers their solutions through the Kognifai Marketplace. The demand for solutions to predict failures, to optimize fuel and emissions, and to streamline reporting is increasing both for retrofits and newbuilds entering the market. The MarineInsight solutions can easily be adopted by our subscribers and can solve many problems already identified by our customers,” says Eirik Næsje, Senior Vice President of Vessel Insight, KDI. MarineInsight is active in the workboat, OSV, bulk, tanker industries, and in other commercial and passenger maritime sectors around the globe. The company focuses on three core competencies, Vessel Health, Automated Reports and Fuel and Emission optimization. Lynk Files for FCC License to Enable Global Mobile Connectivity Commercial Service Using Lynk's "Cell Towers in Space" Constellation to Start Next Year Falls Church, Virginia – Tuesday, May 25, 2021 -- Lynk Global Inc., the world's only independently verified space-based mobile network connectivity provider, today announced that it has filed for a commercial operator's license with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Commercial service is expected to begin around the world starting next year upon FCC approval. The startup's patented technology will eventually allow anyone with an existing cell phone to stay connected, anywhere in the world, at all times. Most importantly, Lynk's system requires no changes to the phone. The existing phone in your pocket will work. Charles Miller, CEO of Lynk, "Lynk is introducing a brand-new, never-been-done-before service—satellite-direct-to-standard-phones. As an American company, we are fortunate to have the FCC, whose process is trusted by officials around the world, to license our satellites. We believe that being good corporate citizens means at every point in the process you must be rigorous—whether it is eliminating harmful interference or minimizing orbital debris. Because using cellular frequencies from space has never been done before, we believe that being licensed by the FCC will help regulators worldwide embrace this groundbreaking technology." Lynk's initial commercial license application intentionally uses the FCC's new streamlined process for up to 10 small satellites to accelerate the license. Previous applications suggest this streamlined process will take 10-12 months, allowing Lynk to begin global service next year. This is the first step in Lynk's plans for a larger constellation that will grow to several thousand satellites to begin continuous global service in 2025. Ultimately, Lynk's full constellation will reach 5,000 satellites to provide broadband speeds to your phone. Using a low-risk development approach, Lynk will integrate some of the most advanced space sustainability methods today to prevent and mitigate orbital debris and is actively advocating within industry and government to develop stronger orbital debris mitigation approaches for tomorrow. In February 2020, with the help of NASA and mobile network operators (MNO), Lynk sent the world's first text message from a satellite in orbit to a standard mobile phone on the ground. Lynk has also signed contracts with the U.S. Air Force and the U.K. Space Agency to support development of the Lynk system. To date, Lynk has signed dozens of testing agreements with MNOs. Miller noted, "There is a huge amount of interest in Lynk's service ... we actually have too many testing partners at this time. To manage this demand and ensure the highest quality testing protocols and commercial service, we are implementing a "Flagship Carrier" program. Under this program, we will be limiting initial commercial services to, at most, a dozen mobile network operators globally." In partnership with mobile network operators, Lynk will provide a global service for the 5.2 billion existing cell phone users globally. Further, many of the 2.5 billion people currently without phones will be connected to global society and economy, materially improving their lives. Lynk will provide an instantaneous backup emergency communications layer everywhere on Earth. We have seen cellular systems destroyed worldwide due to hurricanes, earthquakes, wildfires, and terrorism. Lynk will enable people to receive emergency alerts and contact 911 for help even when the ground network is not operating. Emergency responders will be a benefit from increased resiliency to coordinate their efforts, saving lives everywhere. Crew Conducts Remote Sensor Installation for Diamond Bulk Carriers and Mitsubishi Ore Transport to access Nautilus Platform (New York, NY, USA / Hamburg, Germany / Singapore / Tokyo, Japan – May 19, 2021) Diamond Bulk Carriers Pte. Ltd. and Mitsubishi Ore Transport Co., Ltd commenced a partnership with Nautilus Labs and Hoppe Marine GmbH with the goal of maximizing vessel and voyage profits while reducing their carbon footprint. Diamond Bulk Carriers selected Nautilus, the technology firm advancing the efficiency of ocean commerce through artificial intelligence, as their partner for fleet performance optimization. The vessel operator sought to unlock access to vessel high frequency sensor data to feed into Nautilus’s decision support software. Hoppe Marine, a Nautilus Labs preferred partner, was enlisted for instrumentation, installation services, and signal aggregation for the vessel owned by Mitsubishi Ore Transport. Due to pandemic-related travel and port restrictions, the marine service provider guided Mitsubishi Ore Transport’s crew through a remote crew-led installation, allowing them to access a stream of high frequency sensor data used to inform Nautilus’s optimal operating recommendations powered by vessel-specific machine-learning based models. Diamond Bulk Carriers, Mitsubishi Ore Transport, and Nautilus collaborated with Hoppe Marine as their partner for instrumentation and hardware installations. Hoppe transmits the vessel’s data back to shore as part of the “Data Butler” program, with which Nautilus, as an interoperable solution, integrates via an API, to access the vessel’s sensor data. The sensor installation was planned to be conducted by Hoppe’s technical team. Due to COVID-19 and ongoing travel restrictions, the marine service team was not able to attend the vessel in-person. Diamond Bulk Carriers, Mitsubishi Ore Transport, Nautilus, and Hoppe agreed on a remote installation, conducted by the crew, and successfully enabled through detailed communication between all stakeholders. ICEYE Introduces the World’s First Wide Area Imaging for Persistent Monitoring with New Space SAR Satellites Helsinki, FINLAND – May 10, 2021 – Finnish New Space leader ICEYE announced today the commercial availability of wide area imaging capabilities covering 10,000 km² data acquisitions with its SAR (synthetic-aperture radar) satellite constellation. ICEYE is the only New Space SAR satellite provider to achieve wide-area Scan mode imaging, with up to a 100-times larger area coverage from the closest alternatives in the marketplace. Thanks to the completely unique system design of ICEYE’s SAR satellites, ICEYE is now able to provide the world’s single most comprehensive persistent monitoring capabilities both for land and sea data use cases.
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While the consumer market was the initial focus of the mega-LEO constellations, the cost and logistics of reaching billions of poor people is forcing a shift to business markets. OneWeb is now targeting mobility. Telesat’s Lightspeed and Hanwha were business-focused from their inception. Project Kuiper, to integrate with AWS, will need to compete in the B2B market. OneWeb and Starlink have already launched satellites and will soon offer commercial services. The Russians, Chinese, and Europeans could also enter the market. With Kuiper’s competitors being backed by deep-pocket corporate investors and nation-states, they are not likely to fold, even if they lose billions. OneWeb, supported by British politicians, will never run out of funding, no matter how much money it loses. The administration that initiated the government’s 500-million-pound investment will keep pumping in cash rather than admit they made a mistake. Expect the same kind of support from the Russian and Chinese governments. For them, keeping their constellations afloat will be a matter of national pride. To compete effectively against all of the well-financed new players, Amazon will need to enter the market quickly with a compelling offering, one directed at business customer's needs. Developed by one of the best and most experienced management and engineering teams in the satellite industry, Telesat's Lightspeed meets and exceeds business requirements. Each satellite supports over twenty-two gigabits per second capacity, features optical links, committed information rate (CIR), and is designed to last ten years, double the life of competitive offerings. At less than three hundred satellites, Lightspeed would launch faster and cost less than Kuiper. Because Telesat already sells GEO capacity to most of the world’s satellite integrators, it can leverage its partners to assure a swift, sure, and low-cost market entry, a substantial strategic advantage, and one not shared by OneWeb, Starlink, or Hanwha. With existing integrator partners shouldering installation, customer service and billing costs, it’s an operator-centric business model with very favorable economics. Telesat's constellation also has spectrum priority rights in the Ka-band, a critical competitive advantage. If Amazon acquires Telesat, Amazon gains these rights, assuring its access to the band's most desireable frequencies. At less than half the price of the projected $10 billion cost of OneWeb, Starlink, or Kuiper and considering Lightspeed's technical advancements, time-to-market, economic and regulatory advantages, we believe Amazon's acquisition of Telesat could be the next big news in the satellite industry. - Alan Gottlieb
Editorially Speaking...
Should Amazon Acquire Telesat?
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Imagine mobile networks with coverage everywhere. Soon you'll be able to connect to basic voice, SMS and e-mail wherever you go - across previously unserved deserts or the deep blue sea - all through your mobile network operator and on your conventional smartphone. That's the unique vision of Omnispace. While L-Band networks like Inmarsat, Iridium and Thuraya, and Globalstar have provided global and regional coverage of unserved areas before using proprietary protocols and phones, Omnispace plans to use ordinary cell phones to connect directly to satellites. As aggressive as this vision may sound, Omnispace is well on the way to achieving it. What makes its venture real is its unique S-Band spectrum rights, derived from its purchase of the old ICO satellite. Once in place, Omnispace's planned satellite network will enable conventional mobile operators to extend their coverage to previously unserved areas, differentiate their service, and generating additional revenue - all without special phones or network modification. To find out more about this exciting new venture, we met with Omnispace CEO Ram Viswatathan. SMW: Omnispace’s business model delivers a global service from satellite directly to devices via 5G NTN over S-band. When outside of a cellular network, mobile users would roam onto the satellite. Leveraging priority spectrum, obtained by purchasing the ICO satellite, the company will partner with mobile network operators. Using the Omnispace network, previously unserved users will have a basic voice, SMS, and e-mail service when outside of the terrestrial cell coverage. Is that correct? Ram Viswanathan (RV): Omnispace’s goal is to leverage 5G NTN to create a seamless global network. Unlike satellite operators that provide connectivity using proprietary protocols and hardware, we’re building a new environment where satellite and cellular co-exist under the new, universally adopted, 5G NTN (non Terrestrial Network) standard. To achieve that goal, instead of competing with the mobile operators for spectrum, we’ll combine forces with them as partners to augment their current service offerings. By leveraging the mass-market economics of the 5G environment, we’ll deliver a global service directly to 5G compatible devices at a significantly lower cost than traditional satellite services. By eliminating the need for expensive, proprietary devices, we expect the market for global connectivity to expand significantly. SMW: How will mobile operators benefit from your service? Do you expect that it will generate significant revenue and help operators in third-world countries to satisfy government mandates to cover unserved rural areas? RV: For mobile operators, the most significant benefit is extending their networks globally while avoiding having to invest in costly infrastructure. Omnispace’s platform will integrate seamlessly with their network and will be interoperable with standard mobile devices. So, users won’t be required to purchase expensive satellite-only terminals. Partnering will allow them to expand their subscriber base in both the consumer and business markets, differentiate their services with a unique high value-added offering, and generate additional revenue. We are providing a connectivity solution where none exists. In addition, in some countries, mobile operators may be able to use their network partnerships with us to extend coverage beyond high-density urban areas by providing a basic voice and data offering. I think it’s important to note that today in developed regions high-speed internet access is a priority. It was an evolutionary process for us to get to that point. However, in underserved and unserved areas provision of basic telecommunication services – telephony, e-mail, and messaging – is still a huge step forward. Considering the advantages Omnispace offers in both developed and developing countries, it’s easy to see why we have received a very favorable reception from mobile network operators. SMW: What happens when the demand goes beyond basic connectivity? How will you take outlying users to a higher grade of service that would include broadband internet? RV: While the initial build will achieve global coverage, our network architecture allows us to augment capacity by adding satellites to the constellation. The initial deployment will provide adequate capacity to support large volumes of users for many years. If we find that greater capacity is required to support the growing global demand, that would be a good problem to have, and we believe we are well-positioned to be able to grow to support such future demand. SMW: What about licensing in target countries? How difficult will it be to obtain landing rights? Is an MSS license all you need? RV: We operate in a very well-established regulatory regime in S-Band and are not trying to do something that’s unnatural or against the regulatory grain. For us, it’s straightforward. Based on our purchase of the legacy ICO satellite assets, we have priority spectrum allocation in the S-Band, which has been brought into use. We continue to make progress in securing MSS landing rights in key markets where we anticipate initially providing service. That is a process that we have been executing for several years. Unlike some satellite companies attempting to use terrestrial mobile spectrum for a mobile satellite solution, we don’t need to drastically alter the regulatory rules. Our licensing process is quite the same as the MSS operators have used for decades. SMW: I understand mobile phones can communicate at S-band frequencies. However, wouldn’t you need to convince device and chipset manufacturers to modify their software to assure compatibility with your service? Given that Apple and Samsung control most of this market, how difficult will it be to convince them to modify their software? Isn’t their wiliness to incorporate band 65 into their phones critical to your business plan? RV: First, it’s important to note that many cell phones and other cellular devices can operate on our S-Band frequencies. As such, we expect that future 5G compatible phones and chipsets will require only minor modifications to support seamless operation on both the terrestrial and satellite networks. We are active supporters of the 3GPP working group, which is currently defining 5G standards for devices to communicate via satellite and terrestrial networks. An important point to note is that we are building our network specifically to communicate directly to mobile devices and not the other way around. The 3GPP 5G NTN standard makes interoperability possible across MNO and compliant satellite networks to ensure that the operation of user equipment is uninterrupted. The working group activity is ongoing at 3GPP and should achieve a major milestone before the end of the year. We expect that in time most mobile phones will support our S-band frequencies as well as the NTN functionality, assuring our ability to connect with 5G devices anywhere. We don’t expect that we will have to convince mobile phone manufacturers or chipset manufacturers to modify their products. Many of them are also active participants in the NTN standard development and recognize the market opportunity such functionality creates. As users replace their phones, their new phones will be compatible with our network . SMW: Lynk and AST Science also plan to connect mobile phones directly to satellite. AST intends to deliver 5G broadband services and Lynk basic SMS connectivity. Both ventures plan to partner with mobile operators. Using operator leverage and influence, Lynk and AST hope to persuade regulators to license the use of terrestrial cellular for space to ground use. What barriers do you have in place to keep these players and other potential competitors at bay? RV: A principal differentiator is our unique spectrum rights. Not only do we have priority in the S-Band, but our ITU filing also provides for operation at the power levels required to communicate directly to mobile devices. Under ITU regulations, we are an approved and operating MSS provider. Other parties are pursuing an approach to convince regulatory authorities to repurpose terrestrial-only mobile network frequencies for use between space and ground. Doing that on a global basis will be extremely difficult. SMW: Don’t you need a huge antenna in space to receive very weak signals from mobile phones? Connecting directly with end-user devices is not a trivial exercise. As you have highlighted, mobile devices transmit at very low power levels and are designed to communicate with cell towers located nearby. This is problem we have been studying for many years, and we believe that we have a solid understanding of what is required - not only to be able to communicate directly to a mobile device, but to be able to provide a commercially compelling offering for customers. Satellite design should align with the intended service offering. A broadband service would require enormously expensive satellite platforms and spectrum capacity, while very narrowband solutions don’t deliver a user experience attractive to large audiences. We think we have found the right balance by sizing our future system to deliver a complimentary service to what the terrestrial networks are currently providing, which will appeal to users while not reaching beyond what is technically or economically feasible. Recall that our network will be operating in the S-Band. The S-band frequencies are similar to those used by many MSS providers. The propagation characteristics of the L and S bands are similar, which affords us some advantage in communicating with devices in terrestrial environments. Certainly, we will be looking to take advantage of the many advances in satellite design and production in recent years. Still, essentially our antenna and satellite technology leverages prior successful satellite programs and is already proven. SMW: I understand that one of your key target markets is mobility. Yet most ships and aircraft have L-Band connectivity provided by Fleet Broadband and Iridium and VSAT. Crew members use their phones and connect via VOIP with Wi-Fi. Given the existing L-Band and VSAT infrastructure, why would this market switch to Omnispace? RV: Omnispace is focused on enhancing the user experience for those already using cellular services by augmenting the reach, reliability, and resiliency of services users are currently using, thereby increasing the value and utility to users. When it comes specifically to maritime and aero, we believe there are opportunities that remain open to innovation. The hardware required to use our service will be much cheaper than current MSS options due to our ability to leverage the mass market chipsets and devices in the 5G ecosystem. A global addressable market of possibly billions of devices affords us flexibility in our service pricing to expand the market, not just cannibalize market share from other operators. We also believe that many users will find that roaming between the terrestrial and satellite networks provides a differentiated solution. SMW: Can you elaborate on your deal with Lockheed Martin? Wouldn’t the relationship open a channel for use of your network in military markets? RV: As you know, we announced the relationship with Lockheed Martin in March. There is an alignment of visions between Omnispace and Lockheed Martin on converging satellite and terrestrial networks, leveraging 5G technology, especially for direct to device and mobility applications. There is no question that Lockheed has a solid grasp on military markets, government markets, and aerospace globally. While we view our one global network being dual use, serving commercial, enterprise and government customers, we are excited about the potential opportunities that a relationship with Lockheed may bring. SMW: Can you bring us up to date on your planned constellation? How large are the satellites? Are they interlinked? How many satellites are you planning to launch, and what is the estimated cost of the constellation? What is your planned launch schedule, and when do you plan to initiate commercial services? How long will it take before you make serious inroads into the market? RV: Omnispace is executing a strategy where we will advance to our global commercial solution in phases. We do have a network architecture that we are designing to, and at present we are focused on completing trade-space studies to define the specific satellite design elements. The 5G NTN standards are still in development at 3GPP, with major milestones to be achieved in the coming months. That said, final specifications are pending the codification of the new 5G standards. Once the standard is locked down, we will refine our specifications and move forward with the final design. We very much anticipate an intersatellite-linked design that very efficiently enables our global footprint. We can also rule out a constellation that has thousands of satellites. I also can say is that an operating, commercial system is no more than five years away.
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With Omnispace CEO Ram Viswatathan
Seamless Global Coverage May Soon be a Reality
Satellite to Cell Phone via S-band - Omnispace's Amazing Vision
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Learn More
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"Because all mobile phone manufacturers will build to the new 3GPP standard, all mobile phones will support our S-band 65 frequency, guaranteeing our ability to connect with any 5G phone anywhere."
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For more information
For More Information
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About Ram Viswanathan: Ram Viswanathan brings decades of experience forging new frontiers in the telecommunications and satellite industries to Omnispace. As President and CEO, Ram sets the strategic direction for the development and delivery of the world’s first satellite and 5G-based ‘one global network.’ Previously, as CEO of Devas Multimedia, Ram pioneered the development of India’s satellite-terrestrial broadband internet and media services platform. Prior to that, he led the strategic partnerships as CSO and EVP of Business Development at Cidera. As WorldSpace’s SVP of Corporate Development, he helped formulated the successful U.S. joint venture, XM Satellite Radio. At McKinsey & Company, Ram worked with U.S. and European telecommunications and technology clients and assisted in establishing its India consulting practice. He also held positions at Goldman Sachs & Company in investment banking, focusing on mergers and acquisitions. Ram is an advisor to Columbia Capital, Telcom Ventures and Adelphi Capital. He holds a master’s degree from the MIT Sloan School of Management, a master’s degree in engineering from Stanford University, and a bachelor’s degree in engineering and economics from the University of Maryland.
Emerging Opportunites for Phased Arrays on U.S. Warships
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While most Navy vessels are equipped with vast quantities of mechanically stabilized antennas today, expect phased array antennas to make major inroads into military maritime markets. Driven by the Navy's desire to tap the potential of the upcoming LEO constellations and their desire for smaller, more agile vessels with minimal radar signature, phased arrays could soon become the dominant antenna technology on hundreds of navy vessels. While there are many such antennas in development, the technology is still in its evolutionary stages. Most phased arrays still generate too much heat, are extremely expensive, and mostly lack the efficiency of traditional parabolic antennas, not so with ThinKom's VICTS antennas. Installed on over 1,500 commercial aircraft, the VICTS is a fully developed technology, proven in actual use. For the first time, it's now under evaluation for use on U.S. Navy vessels. To learn more about evolving opportunities for phased arrays in Navy markets and the role the ThinKom antenna in this emerging new market, we were fortunate to land an interview with one of the industry's best-known experts, ThinKom CTO William Millroy. SMW: I understand that the Navy is now very interested in phased array antennas. Can you outline the issues that have excited their interest? William Milroy (WM): I think first and foremost is the Navy’s interest in the upcoming LEO constellations, not instead of, but rather in addition to GEO constellations. As you may be aware, military vessels are covered with conventional stabilized maritime antennas, which aren’t well-suited for the coming migration to NGSOs. These systems do not have the agility to quickly switch to new satellites every 3-15 minutes, without interruption. The Navy’s ships are also changing. They are smaller, more agile, and much more automated, requiring less crew. Stealthy new designs like the Admiral Zumwalt class of destroyers are changing the face of modern warships. In this new environment, the military wants antennas to fully integrate into a vessel’s superstructure, making them more difficult to detect. That makes phased arrays the perfect fit for the emerging classes of new Navy vessels. SMW: I notice you recently won a contract to provide a VICTS antenna to the US Navy for shipboard testing. Can you tell our readers more about this program and the opportunity? (WM): The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) is an organization in the Department of Defense tasked with identifying promising commercial technologies for use in the military. They typically focus on technology from smaller companies that may not have the same inroads into government programs as the large defense contractors. Lately, the DIU has been very interested in learning about our technology, largely due to the military’s interest in using the upcoming LEO constellations. For their program, we submitted an off-the-shelf ThinAir® Ka2517 (airborne) antenna for satellite applications. Through the testing, the DIU will evaluate the suitability of our antenna for the shipboard environment. We’re hopeful that the evaluation will qualify us for satellite use and possibly lead to opportunities in other frequency bands and applications, such as line-of-sight and electronic warfare applications. As you may be aware, we can deliver our VICTS antennas in frequencies from C-band at 3 GHz up to W-band at 94 GHz, which could open some very significant opportunities for us. We see a market with potential demand for several thousand antennas for satellite, but also CDL (line-of-sight) and EW/EA (Electronic Warfare) applications. SMW: What are some of the requirements for next-gen naval SATCOM antennas in terms of performance, environmental and form factors – currently and in the future? (WM): In warship deployments, minimal radar cross-section and low probability of detection are critical. By embedding flat antennas in the superstructure, their radar cross-section can be minimized. Reduction of the side lobes also assures that the antenna’s transmissions are not likely to be detected or intercepted by a hostile actor. Other techniques to avoid detection include the use of frequency hopping and spread spectrum waveforms. In frequency hopping, the signal is rapidly shifted pseudo-randomly from frequency to frequency. In spread spectrum, the energy is spread across 500 MHz or more of the satellite transponder. Both technologies contribute to the stealth capabilities of an antenna and its resistance to jamming. Another important consideration for the military is high reliability and no scheduled maintenance. Because the antennas are embedded in the ship’s infrastructure, removing them for maintenance or repair would be difficult. In addition, since they are integrated into closed areas, they must not generate a lot of heat or use an excessive amount of power, which could overload the cooling system or compromising other sensitive electronics. They also must be resistant to high power emissions generated by radar or other communication technologies operating nearby. SMW: How does your VICTS technology uniquely meet these requirements? (WM): Keep in mind that much of the Navy’s interest in phased arrays is based on its desire to exploit the advantages in the coming LEO constellations. That means our competition is most likely the typical flat-panel phased array. It’s much easier for us to meet the Navy’s requirements with a VICTS phased array compared to electronically steered antennas (ESAs) currently under development. For example, in a typical ESA, there are thousands of low noise amplifiers (LNAs) immediately behind the actual radiating elements on the front of the antenna. These LNAs are fully exposed and unprotected, leaving them vulnerable to any high-power RF energy and possible burnout. In the VICTS array, we also use an LNA located in the back of our antenna that is protected by filters that reject any unwanted signals. That means our antenna is much more reliable (and survivable). Also, when it comes to meeting the government’s requirement for low probability of detection or low probability of intercept, unlike some ESAs, the VICTS antenna reflects any incoming energy at an angle away from the source, thereby minimizing the antenna’s radar cross-section. Additionally, for an antenna to work with frequency hopping and spread spectrum waveforms, it must support very wide instantaneous (channel) bandwidth. ESAs suffer accelerated beam walk and may only see one-quarter (125 MHz) of the 500 MHz channel. The VICTS technology can support up to 2GHz of channel bandwidth. In summary, it’s all about reliability, resiliency, and survivability, and bringing a highly functional phased-array product that meets those expectations – and we believe that our VICTS array uniquely delivers on that goal. SMW: I understand that new stealth-designed naval ships will require multi-channel communications while eliminating the large stabilized parabolic dish radomes above decks. Will a VICTS, “array of arrays,” be able to satisfy this requirement? Can you explain how? (WM): We think this requirement ideally matches the gateway antennas we’re deploying in ground operations. They have multiple facets tilted back about twenty degrees, exactly like our shipboard application. In the same way, we combine our VICTS antenna elements to emulate a single giant dish antenna or a multi-beam antenna capable of tracking LEOs or MEOs operating in different orbits. Today ships use 3.5-meter dish antennas mounted in a five-meter circular radome. We can build an antenna with a similar aperture, embed it in the infrastructure and replace the parabolic antenna using just seven individual 1m VICTS antenna elements, resulting in an antenna only three meters across that doesn’t consume any deck space. This type of integrated installation precludes the unwanted antenna-to-antenna blockage, which is the case with current parabolic dish installations, which often require additional antennas to manage this issue. SMW: What about the electronically steered antennas (ESAs) that are in various stages of development? What benefits can they bring to the table? Likewise, what are their limitations for deployment on a naval warship? (WM): The good news about any phased array is their low-profile form factor. They are a flat replacement for a dish, and can rapidly move the beam to acquire multiple satellites. However, ESAs are generally too large, too heavy, consume too much power, cost too much, and have inherent reliability issues. In comparison, our VICTS antennas are three to eight times more area efficient than ESAs. That means we can get the same performance in one-third to one-eighth of the area. That’s important on a ship that wants to use every available space for antennas to support multi-band requirements. Additionally, unlike the VICTs antennas, most ESAs are unable to meet the 250 to 2,000 MHz channel bandwidth of next- generation satellites, which is required for frequency hopping or spread spectrum. SMW: Can you tell us more about sidelobe issues? (WM): When we transmit to a GEO, we need to ensure that the energy is hitting only the target satellite and not interfering with adjacent satellites. I already mentioned the importance of minimizing side lobes to avoid signal intercept, detection, and jamming in directions away from the satellite, particularly along the horizon SMW: What’s the status of the DIU evaluation process under this program, and what are the next steps? (WM): We have already delivered a detailed report on the system’s capabilities, and we will commence testing in July. While there is no guarantee there will be follow-on business, we would hope the DIU and the Navy would find our solution the most competitive for the future evolution of their satellite communications.
With ThinKom CTO William Milroy
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Integrated array-of-arrays with seven one-meter diameter elements can be embedded in the ship’s superstructure.
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ThinKom Ka2517 phased array
About William Milroy... Prior to co-founding ThinKom (www.thinkom.com), William (Bill) Milroy held the position of Senior Engineering Fellow within the Electromagnetic Systems Department of Raytheon’s Electronic Systems (ES) Segment. During his 20 year tenure at Raytheon (Hughes Aircraft), Mr. Milroy managed and led the RF antenna design, development, and production of a wide range of antenna array implementations for radar and communication applications in both the commercial and military marketplaces including 1-D and 2-D Electronically-Scanned Arrays (ESA’s Mr. Milroy is a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, earning BSEE, MSEE, and Engineer (Ph.D. course, field, and examination requirements) degrees in 1979, 1981, and 1986, respectively and is a graduate of the Hughes (Raytheon) Corporate Program Manager Development Course (PMDC) and Engineering of Systems Course (EOSC) curricula and the Executive Marketing Program at UCLA’s Anderson School of Business Management. He is the author or co-author of nine journal and symposia papers in the fields of Network Analysis, Circuits, Antennas, and Microwaves
Enhancing the User Experience in Mobility Networks
With the coming of LEOs, mobile satellite integrators will have new opportunities to add value and improve services. In a multi-constellation world, integrators can combine the best attributes of GEO stationary satellites and LEOs to deliver the best customer experience. As simple as it sounds, the technology to detect applications in use and route them over the appropriate satellite or terrestrial network is challenging. However, Hughes is doing it today. Their multi-transport technology is already deployed in their managed service offering, Hughes OnTM. Today, they use the technology to manage and optimize IP streams from different satellite and terrestrial networks. In the future, satellite mobility integrators could use it in a LEO, MEO and GEO environment as well. To find out more about the Hughes multi-transport technology, we met with Reza Rasoulian, HNS' V.P. of Broadband Services. SMW: Hughes believes that GEO and NGSO constellations will be complementary. Can you talk about some of the ways they will work together in mobility applications? Reza Rasoulian (RR): When we examine the benefits of GEO and NGSO constellations, we see the different constellations being highly complementary in meeting the growing and changing demand for broadband everywhere. With GEO capacity, especially with HTS/VHTS architectures, we can deliver significant capacity in targeted areas. For instance, our JUPITER 3 satellite is designed to pinpoint over 500 Gbps of capacity exactly where customers are located. Some NGSO constellations would need a significant number of satellites to provide that density level. Still their advantage is the global coverage and reach across the polar regions where GEO satellites cannot offer coverage. And of course, NGSO satellites are capable of a lower-latency service than GEO satellites, which will help fill the need in the market for latency-sensitive applications. When combined, end-users can benefit from the best of the two approaches while minimizing risk and creating an optimal user experience in future NGSO environments. SMW: Can you explain how you envision that kind of service working? We have a few different multi-transport solutions already in the market. We have a broad portfolio of SD-WAN capabilities that leverage the best transport to meet business needs for enterprise applications – whether cost, performance, or efficiency. Our enterprise networks apply Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI and ML) algorithms to manage data traffic across various transports – including fiber, cable, LTE, and satellite. For example, our HT2000L modem is a hybrid VSAT and LTE device that optimizes high speed, multi-application traffic from a site with little or no user interaction needed. We recently introduced the Hughes 4510 terminal in the mobility area which combines LTE and S-Band capability. We developed the 4510 to fill a gap in mobile satellite services between messaging solutions and broadband solutions. This terminal uses an omni satellite antenna and achieves a lower cost and more compact form factor relative to broadband MSS offerings while providing a much lower price per bit than the messaging services. Adding a fully integrated cellular component further reduces an end user’s operating cost while supporting a rich set of applications that require high availability and ubiquity within the coverage area. Our JUPITER System dual-Modman also enables multi-transport connectivity, as we demonstrated with SES and Thales when we successfully switched between GEO and MEO satellite beams. As you may recall, that demonstration realized over 265 Mbps – a great indication of the kinds of multi-transport capabilities on the horizon. SMW: To apply this technology in the mobility market, a user needs a service agreement with both GEO and LEO operators and a multi-beam, multi-orbit capable phased array or multiple parabolic antennas. Given these requirements, won’t the use of multi-transport services be limited to specific mobility markets? If so, what are the target markets? RR: That is true. But think back to the cellular phone market when we used to have to make arrangements to roam in different parts of the country or the world. Today, roaming is practically invisible to the user. Similarly, our JUPITER System enables roaming across JUPITER-powered satellites, subject to agreements among the providers. We expect to see more of this kind of inter-system satellite roaming when LEO constellations come into service. All of this enhances both aero and maritime mobility capabilities, pushing the sector further into the future when connectivity will be truly ubiquitous. Of course, in multiple constellation environments, several parabolic antennas or multi-beam capable phased array antennas are required. SMW: You note that multi-transport services are currently available. Have they been installed in any commercial applications? Can you give us some examples and uses cases? As a component of our HughesON™ managed services, multi-transport capabilities have been used in thousands of retail environments for point-of-sale applications such as gas stations, or “big box” retailers. These enterprises use SD-WAN capabilities to manage broadband networks across sites with vastly different transport types. Multi-transport capabilities are used in locations where revenue could be lost if the primary transport goes down. These locations may have terrestrial as the primary but need a terrestrial wireless or satellite backup. Several smaller retailers have deployed this continuity solution to ensure they can process transactions in the event their main network goes down. Even large nationwide retailers have employed multi-transport back-up solutions to ensure business continuity. Our new 4510 is another example of a commercial application of multi-transport capabilities. The terminal is environmentally sealed for outdoor installation and can be used at a fixed site, on a truck, or boat. In Brazil, we have deployed a multi-transport solution using satellite and terrestrial connectivity on a fleet of repair trucks for Cemig, an electric energy distributor. SMW: While combining GEO and LEO technology in a high-demand environment such as cruise, is it feasible in low-demand environments like cargo? Essentially, do you believe that the efficiencies gained from a multi-transport solution will justify its installation in that market, given the falling price of bandwidth and the cost of a multiple antenna parabolic array or a multi-beam phased array? RR: Absolutely. The best way to look at it is from the perspective of coverage and performance. Just look at the arctic region – that’s a major waterway where conventional GEO satellites cannot reach, but HEOs/LEOs can provide coverage. Many cargo vessels are already using LTE near shore. Some cloud applications also require low latency and are becoming more common in mobility applications. So, we believe the use of LTE and Cloud-based services will also drive the need for multi-transport mobility solutions for both large and small vessels. SMW: What other advances can we expect to see in the JUPITER System for mobility applications? RR: We recently announced that our hub and modem infrastructure handles adaptive code modulation in uplink and downlink directions. We can also vary the power and modulation characteristics within a single beam on individual vessels and aircraft to accommodate the variance in weather conditions from one location to another, resulting in optimized bandwidth efficiency and end user performance. JUPITER technology also facilitates seamless roaming from operator to operator. That’s a big advantage, enabling operators with the same infrastructure to augment their coverage with our satellites. It also allows operators to expand coverage over other networks. For example, we have implemented JUPITER technology on Telesat’s Telstar 19 VANTAGE (also known as Hughes 63 West) enabling us to deliver fixed consumer services, as well mobility services seamlessly on other JUPITER-enabled networks. SMW: I understand that you have recently acquired several new JUPITER customers in maritime markets. In what segments of the maritime market are these customers – cruise, cargo, yachts, regional or global customers? RR: I can’t name names yet, but I can tell you that in Europe, we have a service provider serving a ferry operation. We are in cargo, regional fishing, and offshore service vessels (OSVs) in Asia. We have also had some great success in India, leveraging our mobility license to serve the Indian maritime market. SMW: Given that integrators dominate mobility markets and have contract commitments with existing Ku and Ka-Band operators, what is HNS’ strategy to penetrate these market with Jupiter? What is Jupiter’s major differentiator? When it comes to the JUPITER System for mobility applications, our inter-networking roaming capability via our roaming partners, proven reliability, performance, and expanding coverage footprint stand out as major differentiators. The JUPITER fabric is now widely deployed among more than 60 satellite operators – which is why we call it the “de facto standard” for satellite implementations worldwide. Driven by our passion for innovation, these features have enabled us to achieve a leading position in the satellite industry.
With Reza Rasoulian, V.P. Broadband Services at Hughes
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Reza Rasoulian, Vice President, broadband satellite services at Hughes Network Systems, LLC. Reza Rasoulian, vice president, broadband satellite services at Hughes Network Systems, LLC (HUGHES), leads the company’s strategic planning and business development related to aeronautical and maritime satellite mobility services. Prior to joining Hughes in his current position, Mr. Rasoulian was vice president, global connectivity at Carnival Corporation. Before Carnival, Mr. Rasoulian worked at Comtech EF Data as senior vice president of mobility systems. In his current role, Mr. Rasoulian rejoins Hughes, where he previously held positions of increasing responsibility, from his early years in technical and management roles in global network engineering, mobile satellite systems, and spacecraft and network design and implementation. Among many awards for excellence and leadership, Mr. Rasoulian received the 2018 Euroconsult Smart Ship of the Year award for a record 3.174 Gbps of satellite bandwidth delivered to a ship. A member of the VSAT Global advisory board, Mr. Rasoulian is a frequent speaker at industry conferences. Mr. Rasoulian holds a Master of Science Degree in Systems Engineering from the Whiting School of Engineering at The Johns Hopkins University, and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Information Systems Management & Management Science from the University of Maryland.
Thales Unveils New MissionLINK and VesseLINK 200 Terminals
Small commercial and leisure vessels and military land-based operations will be pleased to know that they have a new and convenient way to connect to satellite for communications and Telemetry. Modeled after the original versions of the popular Thales MissionLINK and VesseLINK solutions, Thales has just introduced a substantially smaller version with MissionLINK and VesseLINK 200. Running over Iridium Certus, they offer an attractive combination of size and communications capability. Before launch, the new Thales products underwent rigorous testing by Iridium and other Official Beta Partners worldwide, including AST, Marlink, Network Innovations, Thalos and Speedcast, where they were installed on different types of vessels and vehicles and exposed to weather extremes all over the globe. In the field, the new units have proven to be lightweight and robust. Weighing in at less than 1.5 pounds and using the same below decks unit as the original VesseLIMK and MissionLINK products, they offer 176 Kbps upload and download, low latency and global coverage. Ideal as stand-alone solution or companion soluyio, Thales MissionLINK and Vessel LINK 200 can be used in various markets and applications on both water and land and proven to be very popular. Thales partners have purchased MissionLINK 200 for first responders in fire and rescue operations in Australia. An Australian railroad company operating in the same territory plans to use them to monitor their road crossings. In Europe, Railroads purchased multiple units of MissionLINK 200 for a variety of train projects. There is also a lot of interest from energy companies, emergency field response, and water companies for remote voice communications. VesseLINK 200 is also making inroads in Fishing, tug and towing companies, and even with racing boats in Europe. Said Brian Aziz, V.P. Satcom Solutions, Thales Defense and Security: "We're very excited about the market's response to MissionLINK and VesseLINK 200. Our partners have ordered hundreds of units pre-launch, and we look forward to our continiued success in the L-band market. To learn more about these solutions, click the button below:
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Thales' New VesseLINK and MissionLINK 200 Series Antennas
There are many mobility related satellite industry events, most of which have gone virtual or been postponed due to COVID 19. Upcoming Conferences: ****RESCHEDULED: Asia Pacific Maritime: Singapore: Live Show 16-18 March 2022: Biggest maritime show in Asia. *****SeaTrade Cruise Global, Miami: RESCHEDULED: 27-30 September 2021: The Cruise Industry is a huge user of VSAT services. making this show an important venue. It should not be missed - an important event for satellite service suppliers. ****Global Connected Aircraft: RESCHEDULED June 8-10, 2021 Now VIRTUAL: A popular conference address in commercial aircraft connectivity. ****SMM: Hamburg, Germany RESCHEDULED September 6-9 2022: A must attend for those interested in VSAT use in the cargo segments. *** RESCHEDULED AGAIN: CABSAT: LIVE: 26-28 October Dubai, UAE *****COMMUNICASIA: LIVE AND VIRTUAL 14-16 July Singapore: The most important communications event in Asia. *****SMALLSAT 2021, NOW VIRTUAL - 7-12 AUGUST: The best small satellite conference. Not to be missed! *****Satellite 2021: Washington D.C.: Gaylord National Convention Center LIVE: RESCHEDULED AGAIN: Now: September 7-10, 2021 The year's most important Trade Show/Conference Event. Great for an industry overview. Many good break away sessions on specific topics. ***IBC: September 10-13 2021, Amsterdam, the Netherlands ******WORLD SATELLITE BUSINESS WEEK: LIVE RESCHEDULED AGAIN - Now, December 13-16, The Westin Paris, France. A must attend. The most important satellite conference of the year. and best networking opportunity.
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Upcoming and Recommended Satellite Mobility Events
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