ViaSat (News - Alert) has inked a contract with Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space and Communications, to build ViaSat-1 with a core competency that offers enhanced broadband satellite services for U.S. and Canadian consumers and enterprises.

 

Aimed at giving consumers a whole new experience based on the most advanced technology on the market, the company is planning to launch the high capacity Broadband satellite ViaSat-1 in 2011.

 

The announcement marks a major leap forward in creating a way for advanced broadband services via satellite. The system is planned to offer high range of speeds in a cost efficient and scalable manner.

 

ViaSat-1 will be functioning along with SurfBeam networking system. The satellite will be equivalent to KA-SAT, a high capacity Ka-band broadband satellite for Europe planned to launch in 2010 by Eutelsat (News - Alert).

 

ViaSat -1 will be developed in collaboration with other strategic partners which include Loral, Telesat, and Eutelsat. The company has secured financial commitments from partners of over $100 million. Loral is investing in the Canadian coverage portion, ViaSat-1 in North America and Eutelsat in the European portion, for combined coverage that serves approximately 4 million satellite subscribers.

 

The new satellites will also be used to project existing businesses into Ka- band including enterprise broadband services, video entertainment, mobile broadband, and defense satellite communications.

 

Mark Dankberg, CEO and chairman of ViaSat said, “This is a technology opportunity that is right in our sweet spot. We provide ground systems for many commercial and government satellites, and as our activity in satellite payloads has increased, we realized that we could make a major breakthrough by simultaneously designing the spot beam satellite and the ground segment”

 

He added, “This strategic partnership combines our expertise and economies of scale in broadband modems and Ka-band MMICs, with the benefit of our partners' extensive experience in designing, launching, and operating advanced satellites and services”.

Meenakshi Shanks is a contributing writer for TMCnet. To see more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.