NewSat Vice President of Sales Andrew Matlock said the investment would enable his company to expand its existing service offerings and capitalize on the upcoming launch of its Jabiru-1 high throughput satellite (HTS). 

“Our customers are demanding multiple services across our fleet of satellites,” Matlock said in a statement. “With iDirect, we now have a single platform to meet their diverse requirements around the world and to introduce HTS bandwidth capabilities.”

When launched, Newsat’s Jabiru-1 satellite aims to deliver more than 7.6 GHz of Ka-band capacity across Australia, South East Asia, the Middle East and North Africa. Matlock added that the new services would strengthen the company’s offering to the oil and gas, mining, government and military segments.

In July, NewSat’s Jabiru-1 prime contractor Lockheed Martin issued a subcontract to European satellite manufacturer Astrium to supply telecommunication products for the satellite. Astrium will supply Ku-band communications receivers and Ka-band beacons to Lockheed Martin to build and deliver the Jabiru-1 satellite in time for a launch in late 2014. Arianespace will place the satellite into orbit on an Astrium-built Ariane-5 rocket.

With the upgrade to SatManage 5.2, iDirect Regional Vice President of Sales John Arnold said NewSat would benefit from a sophisticated suite of Web-based software tools to improve overall service quality, manage network operations through visibility, enhance troubleshooting and ensure maximum network uptime.

“At iDirect, we ensure that our partners can manage a flexible service portfolio over a single platform, maximizing their profitability and increasing their business opportunity,” said Arnold. “By strengthening its investment in iDirect infrastructure, NewSat has taken an important step in preparing for the HTS era while expanding its ability to serve the growing needs of military, oil and gas, mining and government customers.”

NewSat has been expanding its satellite capabilities with the Jabiru Satellite Program, beginning with the launch and operation of Jabiru-1, which is Australia’s first Ka-band satellite.