[Satellite TODAY 03-17-10] ViaSat awarded a contract to Skyware Global to help deliver high-speed satellite broadband to millions of customers throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Skyware Global announced March 16.
     Skyware Global will design and supply two Ka-band antennas for use as part of the ViaSat SurfBeam 2 outdoor unit. The SurfBeam 2 system is an evolution of ViaSat’s SurfBeam broadband Internet-over-satellite system used by WildBlue.
     The first antenna will be deployed for use with the Eutelsat Ka-Sat satellite, a high capacity, Ka-band spot beam satellite with planned coverage over Europe, the Middle East, and Northern Africa. Eutelsat will use this satellite to deliver Tooway broadband services. The second antenna is being designed for ViaSat’s own satellite, ViaSat-1, scheduled to launch in 2011 to deliver more than 100 gigabits per second of broadband capacity to the North American market.
    “We chose Skyware Global for its proven track record as sole supplier of subscriber Ka-band antennas for WildBlue, which we acquired last December, and for its continued work investing in and developing cutting-edge antennas that match end user requirements,” Marc Agnew, vice president and general manager of ViaSat Satellite Broadband Systems, said in a statement.
     Financial details of the contract were not revealed.