Photo: EnSilica

EnSilica has won a major new contract to develop a new chip to address the next generation of mass market satellite broadband user terminals. The company announced the contract, Feb. 17. The contract has been awarded through the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems Core Competitiveness programme (ARTESCC), through the support of the UK Space Agency (UKSA).

The chip in development aims to enable a new generation of lower-cost, low-power satellite broadband user terminals, which track the relative movement of Low-Earth Orbit (ELO) satellites and allow users to access high bandwidth connectivity when out of reach of terrestrial networks. Use cases include satellite communication-on-the-move for automotive, maritime, and aerospace connectivity as well as extending broadband access to users without internet access.

“ESA is pleased to continue our collaboration with EnSilica through the ARTES Core Competitiveness program and to support this important technology development, which will facilitate the provision of high capacity connectivity across a wide range of use cases,” Dietmar Schmitt, head of Technologies & Products Division at ESA, said in a statement.