Mission type | Communication |
---|---|
Operator | NBN |
COSPAR ID | 2015-054A |
SATCAT no. | 40940 |
Spacecraft properties | |
Bus | SSL 1300 |
Manufacturer | SSL |
Launch mass | 6,440 kilograms (14,200 lb) [1] |
Start of mission | |
Launch date | 30 September 2015 |
Rocket | Ariane 5 |
Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 |
Contractor | Arianespace |
Orbital parameters | |
Reference system | Geocentric |
Regime | Geostationary |
Longitude | 140° E |
Period | 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds |
Transponders | |
Band | Ka band |
Frequency | Earth to the satellite being transmitted at 27 GHz to 31 GHz, satellite to the Earth being transmitted at 17.7 GHz to 22 GHz |
Capacity | Currently 135 Gbit/s combined (1A and 1B), final capacity 185 Gbit/s |
Coverage area | Australia mainland and some overseas territories |
The Sky Muster satellites are two geostationary (GEO) communications satellites operated by NBN Co Limited and built by SSL. [2] [3] They were launched in 2015 and 2016 to provide fast broadband in areas where NBN didn't want to either lay fiber or install enough wireless antennas and offshore. The satellites are positioned 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) above the equator, north of Australia. They provide download speeds to users of up to 100 Mbit/s, [4] and upload speeds of 10 Mbit/s in a best-case scenario.
Each Sky Muster has 101 spot beams, [5] [6] which are focused satellite signals which are specially concentrated in power and cover a specific geographic area. The electromagnetic Ka band spot beams are used to carry information from the end users' equipment on the ground to the satellites. Each satellite offers 80 gigabits per second of bandwidth. [7] [8] The two satellites will provide high-speed broadband service to 400,000 Australian homes and businesses in rural and remote Australia. [9] The two satellites were designed to provide service for at least 15 years. [10]
Sky Muster I (NBN-Co 1A) was launched on 1 October 2015 [11] from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, South America, alongside Argentina's ARSAT-2, on an Ariane 5ECA rocket.
Sky Muster I operates in geostationary orbit of 140° East. [11] Sky Muster I became operational in April 2016. [12]
Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) was launched on 5 October 2016, and operates in geostationary orbit of 145° East. [13] [14]
Initial services were offered on the service to end users commencing in January, 2016. [15]
As of June 2020, there are over 100,000 active customers connected to a Sky Muster service, [16] with the largest single Retail Service Provider of Sky Muster services being SkyMesh with over 40,000 active Sky Muster connections. [17]
The two NBN satellites, Sky Muster (NBN-Co 1A) and Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B), were conceived in 2012 under the Gillard Labor government, as part of the original National Broadband Network scheme and NBN Co contracted Space Systems/Loral (SSL) to build and launch the two satellites as part of a total investment costing A$2 billion. [18] The launch was conducted in accordance with the Space Activities Act 1998, which requires Ministerial approval for the launch of a space object from Australia or the launch of a space object by an Australian entity from an overseas location. [9]
Bailey Brooks, a six-year old School of the Air student who lives on a cattle station 400 kilometres (250 mi) from Alice Springs, won a competition to draw a picture of how the satellite benefits rural Australians. Her drawing of the rocket was printed on the payload fairing, [19] and her class named NBN-Co 1A "Sky Muster" as it would bring Australians together like a cattle muster. [20]
The Guiana Space Centre, also called Europe's Spaceport, is a spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a overseas region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximately 500 kilometres north of the equator at a latitude of 5°. In operation since 1968, it is a suitable location for a spaceport because of its near equatorial location and open sea to the east and north.
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites; if it can sustain high speeds, it is termed satellite broadband. Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provided to individual users through geostationary satellites that can offer relatively high data speeds, with newer satellites using the Ku band to achieve downstream data speeds up to 506 Mbit/s. In addition, new satellite internet constellations are being developed in low-earth orbit to enable low-latency internet access from space.
Hispasat is the operating company for a number of Spanish communications satellites that cover the Americas, Europe and North Africa from orbital positions 30.0° West and 61.0° West. It was formed in 1989 and its activities include provision of communication services in the commercial and government sectors. Hispasat's fleet of satellites broadcast more than 1250 television channels and radio stations to more than 30 million homes, as well as providing services such as broadband to mobile telephones and landlines.
This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Optus' satellites are divided into 4 classes A, B, C and D. As of April 2014 it owns and operates Optus B3, Optus C1, Optus D1, Optus D2 and Optus D3. Optus A1, Optus A2, Optus A3 and Optus B1 satellites have been retired. Optus has the largest network of satellites in Australia and New Zealand.
The Arab Satellite Communications Organization is a communications satellite operator in the Arab World, headquartered in the city of Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Arabsat was created to deliver satellite-based, public and private telecommunications services to the Arab States, in accordance with International Standards. With 21 member countries, the organization plays a vital role of enhancing communications in the Arab World.
ELA-3 is a launch complex at the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana. Currently inactive, the complex was first used in June 1996 in support of the now retired Ariane 5 rocket. ELA-3 is 21 square kilometres (8.1 sq mi) in size.
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NBN Co Limited, known as simply nbn, is a state-owned corporation of the Australian Government, tasked to design, build and operate Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) as the nation's wholesale broadband provider. The corporation reports to two shareholder ministers: the Minister for Finance and the Minister for Communications.
The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a government-owned corporation. Internet service providers, known under NBN as retail service providers or RSPs, contract with NBN to access the data network and sell fixed Internet access to end users.
ARSAT-1 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by AR-SAT and built by the Argentine company INVAP. ARSAT-1 was launched into orbit on October 16, 2014, from French Guiana alongside Intelsat-30 satellite using an Ariane 5 rocket. It is expected to be located at 72° West longitude geostationary slot. ARSAT-1 is the first geostationary satellite built in Latin America. Total cost of the satellite is 270 million US dollars.
ARSAT-2 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by ARSAT and built by the Argentine company INVAP. It was launched from French Guiana alongside Sky Muster satellite using an Ariane 5ECA rocket on September 30, 2015 at 20:30hs UTC, becoming the 400th satellite to be launched by Arianespace. It is licensed to be located at 81° West longitude geostationary slot. ARSAT-2 is the second geostationary satellite built in Argentina, after ARSAT-1. Structurally and mechanically it is a copy of the ARSAT-1, the only difference being the payload and thus it has different antenna configuration.
BSAT-4a is a geostationary communications satellite ordered by Broadcasting Satellite System Corporation (BSAT) and designed and manufactured by SSL on the SSL 1300 platform, to be stationed on the 110.0° East orbital slot for direct television broadcasting of 4K and 8K Ultra HD resolutions. It was launched on 29 September 2017.
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The JSAT constellation is a communication and broadcasting satellite constellation formerly operated by JSAT Corporation and currently by SKY Perfect JSAT Group. It has become the most important commercial constellation in Japan, and fifth in the world. It has practically amalgamated all private satellite operators in Japan, with only B-SAT left as a local competitor.
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