Sailor 4300 terminal. Photo: Cobham Satcom.

Cobham Satcom has unveiled its first Iridium Certus Connected terminal, the Sailor 4300 aimed at the maritime market. Due to launch in the first half of 2018, Iridium Certus is a new portfolio of global satellite services powered by Iridium Next, a second-generation L-band global satellite constellation established to provide global communications.

According to Cobham, the Sailor 4300 is a Broadband Core Transceiver (BCX) type terminal, offering a link over the Iridium Next satellite network with speeds suitable for data-heavy applications including: videoconferencing, multi-user internet/Virtual Private Network (VPN), Internet of Things (IoT) and telemedicine, alongside regular usage such as email, electronic forms/reporting and crew communication.

Like Iridium’s current satellite constellation, Iridium Next features a cross-linked Low Earth Orbit (LEO) architecture, providing coverage over 100 percent of the Earth’s surface. According to Iridium, Certus will guarantee high bandwidth connectivity as a primary channel or as an integral part of multi-band communication networks.