Photo: Via Satellite archive

Welcome to our first big satellite operator round-up of the year, as the industry looks to begin 2021. While the COVID-19 pandemic showing no signs of abating, the satellite industry is getting down to business. At the time of going to press, we are all still awaiting the big announcement from Telesat about which companies it will work with to build its new Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) system, although we understand an announcement is imminent and will no doubt be one of the big talking points of the industry going forward.

Viasat

Viasat, under the new leadership of Rick Baldridge, had an impressive start to the year as it announced deals with Delta Airlines and SKY Brasil (SKY), two marquee end users. SKY will sell, install, and provide on-site technical service for Viasat’s high-speed internet service. Viasat gains a strong Brazilian distribution partner with proven local expertise, and plans to help train SKY’s network of distributors, resellers and installers on its internet service offerings. In October 2020, Viasat became the first satellite Internet Service Provider (ISP) to offer high-speed broadband connectivity across 100 percent of Brazil. Viasat’s residential internet service for Brazil uses Telebras‘ SGDC-1 satellite bandwidth to provide satellite broadband service. This is a significant deal as Viasat looks to diversify its revenue streams and show that satellite can play more of a role in broadband markets going forward.

On the In-Flight Connectivity (IFC) deal, Delta will be upgrading its current IFC system to Viasat’s Ka-band satellite-powered technology to provide all customers with enhanced and reliable in-flight internet capabilities — including faster, more consistent connections and an ability to stream all types of entertainment and popular Over-the-Top (OTT) content — to any internet-ready device, gate-to-gate. The Viasat/Delta relationship will lay the groundwork toward a free in-flight internet experience as well as future enhancements and personalization on customer seatback screens. At a time where airlines are struggling, it is good to see deals still being done between airlines and the satellite sector, and that airlines are still looking to invest strongly in IFC. This gives Viasat momentum under its new CEO Baldridge, as the company starts its first year not under the leadership of Mark Dankberg.

SES and Eutelsat

Just before the holidays, the European Commission announced it had selected a consortium of European satellite manufacturers, operators and service providers, telco operators and launch service providers (Airbus, Arianespace, Eutelsat, Hispasat, OHB, Orange, SES, Telespazio, and Thales Alenia Space) to study the design, development and launch of a European-owned space-based communication system.

The study will assess the feasibility of a new initiative aiming to strengthen European digital sovereignty and provide secure connectivity for citizens, commercial enterprises and public institutions as well as providing global coverage for rural and “not-spot” areas. The contract value of the year-long feasibility study amounts to 7.1 million euros ($8.63 million). Both SES and Eutelsat will hope to play a key role assuming a new system gets off the ground.

The two operators were speakers at the European Space Conference over the week, which took place in a hybrid form this week in Brussels and online. Steve Collar, SES CEO spoke about the importance of satellite connectivity particularly in a COVID environment. He said this environment has shown more than the ever the importance of connectivity, and that difference between people who are connected, and those who are under-connected is huge. Encouraging more collaboration between terrestrial and satellite, he said that neither terrestrial alone or satellite alone is the solution to reducing Europe’s digital divide. He is optimistic that satellite will play a key role in this connectivity revolution taking place in Europe.

SES also announced a new contract with Southern Cross Cables Limited (SCCL), which will leverage SES Networks’ satellite-enabled connectivity services to vastly improve communications between Nukunonu of Tokelau, Kiritimati Island of Kiribati and the rest of the world as it upgrades the undersea Southern Cross cable network. SES has always been a very strong performer in the Pacific region, and this deal underlines that fact.

Eutelsat announced a new financing agreement, a 200 million euros ($243 million) loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term lending institution of the European Union. This eight-year loan will back investments related to the procurement and launch of the KONNECT VHTS satellite. Commenting on the agreement, Rodolphe Belmer, CEO of Eutelsat, said: “This long-term financing with the EIB ensures that major players in the space sector like Eutelsat have access to diversified and compelling sources of funding. It is very positive that the European Union has an agenda in support of the space sector that places space connectivity at the centre of its priorities.”

Intelsat

Intelsat concluded and signed a two-satellite deal with Airbus just before 2020 ended. Via Satellite spoke with Jean-Marc Nasr, Head of Airbus Space Systems on a conference call with a small, select number of journalists over the last few days. This was a major deal for both companies, particularly as Airbus looks to gain traction for its OneSat product line, the latest generation of fully flexible, in orbit reconfigurable, software-defined satellites. It represents a significant investment for Intelsat.

Nasr was confident about the state of the satellite market today. He said the number of Geostationary (GEO) satellite orders in 2020 didn’t take the dip that could have happened through COVID. He said companies weren’t questioning their investments, and the pipeline for satellite orders remained stable and robust. Nasr is also confident there will be more deals signed in 2021, and that the market is not going to take any kind of significant dip. “My impression is that the GEO market is not going to slow down,” Nasr said.

For Intelsat, while these satellites are unlikely to enter into commercial service until 2024, it is a further example of its aggressive investments in software-defined satellites.

Inmarsat

Inmarsat marked the start of 2021 with a deal with FrontM, which will use Inmarsat’s Fleet Connect over Fleet Xpress to deliver their maritime video streaming based collaboration and workflow automation applications to vessels. FrontM is looking to create an Artificial Intelligence (AI) edge developer framework for communication framework with an initial set of innovative marketplace apps. With Fleet Connect, FrontM plans to offer its  Collaboration and Workflow Automation Platform, a cloud and edge (offline) enabled, mobile, desktop and web solution, designed to digitize maritime business operations and processes, while humanizing  employee experiences.