Based on our existing Ku and Ka-band global network, combined with the progress on the first two ViaSat-3 satellites and now having executed a third Asia-Pacific satellite agreement with Boeing, we believe we are well positioned to capture a good portion of the global market.We continue to make significant capital investments into the ViaSat-3 constellations and are making good progress on the production of the first two, the Americas and Europe, Middle East Africa satellite. We're well into the manufacturing stage. The first ViaSat-3 class satellite is targeted to launch late calendar 2020 to early 2021. Some scheduled phases of the first satellite program are taking longer while others have shortened. On balance, an early 2021 launch is more likely now than it was last fall, which would be a little later than previously anticipated.[The] schedule includes multiple phases: some phases have lengthened, some we're doing better. Obviously, we're trying to shorten the future phases to the extent we can and I would think of it more as a probability distribution than I would a point estimate and so what we've said is that probability distribution has shifted a few months more (ph) into early '21.
More specifically, Viasat anticipates that the payload will be integrated by Boeing by September 5, 2020, launched by May 29, 2021, and the system will be operational by December 31, 2021. Viasat believes that the requested extension will accommodate unanticipated delays that may occur.
https://corpblog.viasat.com/real-time-earth/Viasat planning to use the Viasat-3 birds to relay data from LEO sats to ground stations. Not great for real-time comms but fine for earth observation, IOT, etc.
Viasat filed for another 16 ground stations on Friday
Viasat has agreed to buy British satellite fleet operator Inmarsat in a $7.3 billion deal to expand its broadband network globally in multiple orbits and spectrum bands.Buying private equity-backed Inmarsat would transform U.S.-based Viasat into an operator of 19 satellites across Ka, L and S-band spectrum — with another 10 spacecraft set to launch in the next three years for a market that has been shaken up by SpaceX’s Starlink and other incoming megaconstellations.“The unique fusion of teams, technologies and resources provides the ingredients and scale needed for profitable growth through the creation and delivery of innovative broadband and IoT services in new and existing fast-growing segments and geographies,” Viasat executive chair Mark Dankberg said in a statement.
The U.K launched an in-depth probe Oct. 14 that will likely delay Viasat’s plan to buy Inmarsat, following concerns it could harm competition in the fledgling inflight connectivity (IFC) market.The U.K.’s competition watchdog kicked off the investigation after giving the satellite operators a chance to alter the $7.3 billion deal, which it says could lead to more expensive and poorer quality Wi-Fi for airline passengers.
Thanks @BoeingSpace, for hosting @TelstraEnt & Viasat. Great progress is being made on the ViaSat-3 APAC satellite. Telstra, is building & managing Australia's #ViaSat3 ground infrastructure & fiber network. Our partnership will enable connectivity even in the most remote areas.
Suri, 55, agreed a £5.6 billion sale to American satellite company Viasat in 2021, but getting the green light has been proving difficult. In the UK, the Competition and Markets Authority has launched an in-depth “Phase 2” investigation into the takeover, raising concerns about the lack of competition and potential price rises for in-flight wi-fi services. EU regulators will decide by next month whether to clear the merger.Suri fears that if his deal is blocked, Musk’s Starlink and Amazon’s Project Kuiper will dominate as they launch tens of thousands of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites to connect the entire globe to the internet. Starlink has plans to launch a further 30,000 small satellites.“If we’re not careful, there could be an LEO duopoly in the making with Starlink and Amazon,” he claims.
What is Suri even talking about? Inmarsat and Viasat are not only cornered but already marginalized. They are way too late in the game and with a proposed L-band (2×3.5MHz user spectrum 🤣) constellation of just 150-175 LEOs Inmarsat is actually coming with a knife to a gunfight.@InmarsatGlobal's only little chance to grab a piece of the LEO cake is to acquire @Telesat or @rivadaspace to secure their high priority @ITU filings. Any alternative is doomed because of the unmanagable interference problems if you line up behind @OneWeb, @SpaceX and @amazon.
Viasat is exploring hybrid narrowband direct-to-smartphone services using satellites in geostationary and non-geostationary orbits, CEO Mark Dankberg said Feb. 8.There is “plenty that can be done both at GEO as well as at non-GEO,” Dankberg said while addressing the SmallSat Symposium in Mountain View, California, and “what we’re really looking at is a harmonized system between the two.”During Viasat’s financial results call yesterday, Dankberg said the GEO broadband operator is open to partnering with low Earth orbit (LEO) companies, including arch-rival SpaceX.
2024TBD - ViaSat 3 Asia - Ariane 64 - Kourou ELA-4Due to repeated A6 delays the ViaSat 3 Asia, now called ViaSat-3.3 by the company and in regulation filings, mission left Arianespace for apparent breach of contract since it had no way of reaching orbit and debuting servicd in 2023 if it had stayed with Arianespace. They are looking at exercising a contract option with SpaceX for a Direct GEO insertion mission profile for VS-3.3. The launch provider for VS-3.4 [spare] remains TBD.https://space.skyrocket.de/doc_sdat/viasat-3.htmQuoteOne satellite is booked on an Ariane-5ECA rocket, while another will be launched on an Atlas-5(551) launch. Another launch contract was awarded to a Falcon-Heavy (Block 5)(ex). The first three satellites will be launched from 2020 to 2022. The Arianespace launch contract was in June 2019 changed to an Ariane-64 rocket for a 2021 launch. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial launch date slipped to 2023. Due to delays of Ariane-6, the third was moved off this launcher.
One satellite is booked on an Ariane-5ECA rocket, while another will be launched on an Atlas-5(551) launch. Another launch contract was awarded to a Falcon-Heavy (Block 5)(ex). The first three satellites will be launched from 2020 to 2022. The Arianespace launch contract was in June 2019 changed to an Ariane-64 rocket for a 2021 launch. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the initial launch date slipped to 2023. Due to delays of Ariane-6, the third was moved off this launcher.
I have no words…
The Viasat/Inmarsat Deal: One Year OutOne year after the Inmarsat acquisition closed, Via Satellite talks up with the Viasat leadership team about the business integration, ViaSat-3 ramifications, and how they see the opportunity for global scale amid a changing industry....Without naming SpaceX or Amazon, Dankberg says he believes there is an existential threat to the satellite industry from very well funded, vertically integrated companies.“The whole satellite ecosystem is under attack by totally vertically integrated companies,” he says. “One of the foundations of that is attacking spectrum resources, orbital resources. If other countries and companies don't have access to orbits and spectrum, it’s pretty hard to do communications from space. I think connecting all of those dots is the single most important thing in the satellite industry right now.”While some people say there is only room at most for three to four LEO constellations to be successful, Dankberg cautions against the international implications of a few constellations taking up all of the look angles and spatial separation in the orbit.“Countries want assured access to their own space systems,” he says. “This goes back to some of the heritage issues that Inmarsat has dealt with from its founding. How do countries cooperate in a way that they can share some of these resources, whether it's spectrum or orbital slots?” ...
