Satellite Internet - Satellites Launched

Satellites Launched

ViaSat-1, the highest capacity communications satellite in the world, was launched Oct. 19, 2011 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan.

With 140 Gbit/s total throughput capacity, the new satellite services the Exede Internet service, with download and upload speeds much faster than anything previously offered in the satellite industry.

In early 2013, the technology is also scheduled to begin delivering this new level of service to airline passengers aboard JetBlue Airways and one other carrier, according to ViaSat.

The EchoStar XVII satellite with JUPITER High-Throughput Technology, built by Space Systems/Loral, was launched July 5, 2012 by Arianespace and was placed in its permanent geosynchronous orbital slot of 107.1° West longitude. The satellite services the HughesNet Gen4 satellite Internet service. Employing a multi-spot beam, bent-pipe architecture, this Ka-band satellite has over 100 Gbit/s of throughput capacity.

A satellite nicknamed Kizuna, means "ties between people", space internet also known formally as the WINDS satellite was launched on February 23, 2008. The WINDS satellite will be used to provide broadband Internet services to Japan and locations across the Asia-Pacific region. It is equipped with a multi-beam antenna that can obtain two-way communication with the ground at speeds of 1.2 Gigabit/s for businesses (with a 15 ft diameter antenna) and 155 Megabyte/s (with 4 ft ground antenna). This satellite also contains a sort of switchboard device that allows it to route messages by itself. This is a notable departure from past satellites that required assistance from ground based facilities.

SkyTerra-1 was launched in mid-November 2010 and will provide service across North America while Hylas-1 was launched at the end of November 2010 and will target Europe.

On December 26, 2010, Eutelsat's KA-SAT was successfully launched by an ILS Proton Breeze M vehicle at the Baïkonour Cosmodrome Kazakhstan. The last satellite was due in service in mid 2011. It covers the European continent with 80 spot beams—focused signals that cover an area a few hundred kilometers across Europe and the Mediterranean. Spot beams allow for frequencies to be effectively reused in multiple regions without interference. The result is increased capacity. Each of the spot beams will have an overall capacity of 900 Mbit/s and the entire satellite will have a capacity of 70 Gbit/s.