Major Ka-band, VSAT Investments Ride on Upcoming Ariane 5 Launch

[Satellite TODAY Insider 11-25-10] Arianespace’s upcoming Ariane 5 ECA launch, set for Nov. 26, will carry two crucial satellites for operators Intelsat and Avanti Communications as they look to strengthen military, commercial broadband and enterprise VSAT coverage stretching from Europe to the Asia-Pacific region.
    Ariane 5 flight V198 will orbit the Intelsat 17 and Hylas-1 satellites, with payloads designated to support applications for major international customers. Avanti’s highly adaptable Hylas-1 satellite will provide broadband Internet access and telecommunications services to commercial and enterprise customers in Europe via its payload supported by the European Space Agency (ESA).
    Hylas-1’s payload also will carry Ka-band transponder capacity for Astrium Services to test future military and government services as a result of a contract signed in September. System tests on the satellite will cover military use of Ka-band, including tactical and coms-on-the-move terminals in field locations. It will be based in the United Kingdom and use in-house system and terminal capabilities supplied by Astrium Secure Satcom Systems.
    Astrium Services CEO Eric Beranger said the goal of the Hylas 1 capacity lease is to validate potential future service opportunities and capitalize on the wave of military Ka-band interest. “Military Ka-band capability will play a very strong role in future Con Ops, particularly for very high data rate services to and from disadvantaged terminals in theatre. One area we are looking at is multiple Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) streaming real time surveillance data to support military or governmental operations across areas of military or political interest. Current satellite systems simply do not have the available bandwidth to support such operations.”
    Avanti also signed a 10-year Hylas 1 capacity contract with an unnamed triple-play consumer telecom service from the United Kingdom and Ireland in June. The satellite will provide the customer with up to 100 megabits of service on Hylas 1 to deliver a bouquet of scheduled, broadcast TV channels in the style of current free-to-air terrestrial services, in addition to high speed broadband. With volumes increasing over the initial five years of the contract, Avanti said the deal should generate a minimum of 12.7 million euros ($15.2 million) in revenues.
    Hylas-1 also will support enterprise services, as Hughes signed on to purchase capacity in October 2009 for an initial payment of 7.5 million British pounds ($12.2 million) in an effort to grow its business in Europe. Hughes also agreed to a partnership to sell Hylas services to its customers in the oil and gas and lottery sectors.
    Due to its versatility and high-demand, Williams hinted at a possible price increase for Hylas 1 capacity in the near future. “Available capacity on Hylas 1 will diminish and prices will rise so it is commercially astute to lock in capacity at current rates.”
    Intelsat 17, built by Space Systems/Loral (SS/L), aims to expand Intelsat’s C-band video distribution community in the Indian Ocean region and provide capacity across Europe, the Middle East, Russia and Asia from the 66 degrees East orbital slot, where it will replace the Intelsat 702 satellite.
    Korea’s KT Corp. signed a multi-year agreement with Intelsat for capacity on Intelsat 17 in October 2009, which it will use to deliver enhanced broadband VSAT services to government and enterprise customers with remote operations in other parts of Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
    “We will benefit from IS-17’s broad, inter-regional coverage along with the high reliability and resilience for which the Intelsat network is well known as we expand our business into developing regions,” Yeong-Mo Kwon, KT’s vice president, Network Group, said in a statement. “Our customers’ bandwidth requirements are projected to continue growing and the high-powered bandwidth available on IS-17 allows us to support their needs as efficiently as possible.”
    IS-17’s Ku-band payload will cover Russia, the Middle East and Southern Africa, and its C-band payload will provide service over Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East as well as expand Intelsat’s C-band video distribution community in the Indian Ocean and Asia region.

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Major Ka-band, VSAT Investments Ride on Upcoming Ariane 5 Launch

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