1. Satellites: New Technologies and New Systems
David Ball

2. Agenda Current State of the Industry High Throughput Satellites
New Space
Antenna Technology

3. Current State of the Industry

4. Big Four Operators SES Intelsat Eutelsat Telesat
53 satellites in orbit
7 new satellites to be launched over next 3 years
2015 revenue Euro 2.0B
Intelsat
50+ satellites in orbit
2015 revenue US$ 2.35B
Eutelsat
39 satellites in orbit
6 new satellites to be launched over next 3 years
2014/15 revenue Euro 1.4B
Telesat
15 satellites in orbit
2015 revenue C$ 955M

5. Headwinds Capacity Pricing Launch Vehicle Availability
Competition from new entrants
ABS
ViaSat
Avanti
YahSat
Impact of disruptive technology
High Throughput Satellites
Reach of Fibre
Impact of OTT

6. High Throughput Satellites

7. High Throughput Satellites
Definition
Multi-spot beam, multiple frequency re-use
Significantly greater throughput from a given orbital location compared to traditional FSS designs
HTS satellites are not restricted to Ka band
Some of the first HTS satellites operated at Ku band (IPStar)
Intelsat EPIC
GEO HTS
Regional
Global Constellations
MEO HTS Constellations
LEO HTS Constellations

8. GEO HTS Throughput Growth
Satellite
Year
Band
Throughput
Various
Ku/C
2 GHz
IPStar
2005
Ku/Ka
45 Gbps
Wildblue-1
2006 Ka
8 Gbps
Spaceway-3
2007
10 Gbps
Ka-Sat
2010
90 Gbps
ViaSat-1
2012
140 Gbps
NBN-1a
2015
135 Gbps
Viasat-2
2016
>200 Gbps
Viasat-3
2019 (planned)
1 Tbps

9. Telstar 12 Vantage

10. SES HTS Fleet Expansion

11. Intelsat Epic Satellites

12. Inmarsat-5 constellation

13. Viasat-3 Constellation

14. Closed versus Open Systems
Closed Systems
Purchase managed service (Mbps)
Pre-defined standardised service offering
Asymmetric services are typical
Remote terminals standardised
All traffic must flow through operator’s gateways
QoS is pre-defined
Open Systems
Can purchase MHz
Hybrid models also offer managed service options
Offerings are tailored for specific applications
Third party gateways are possible
QoS is determined by network configuration

15. Existing HTS Systems Closed Systems Open Systems
Fully Integrated Offerings
ViaSat
Hughesnet
Satellite Operator / Vendor Partnership
Inmarsat GX iDirect
Eutelsat tooway ViaSat
Yahsat Hughes
Telesat Vantage 19 Hughes
NBNCo ViaSat
Open Systems
Intelsat Epic
IPStar
Inmarsat High Capacity Overlay Payload
O3b (MEO constellation)

16. Is HTS a Disruptive Technology?
Changing the metrics of the satellite industry
Mbps versus MHz
Fill-rate – what is the valid measurement?
End-to-end solutions
Packaged solutions rather than bespoke solutions
Potential to cannibalise existing FSS revenues
ViaSat-3 constellation = 2 x total capacity of existing GEO fleet
Impact on service providers and teleport operators
Defined gateway locations
Operator build out of unified network
Limited opportunities for third party teleport operators

17. HTS System Design Total System Throughput is determined by:
Modulation Efficiency
Available Bandwidth
Frequency Re-use

18. HTS System Design Improving Total System Throughput:
Modulation Efficiency
Gains are limited by channel non-linearity
Available Bandwidth
Reduce colour count – wider transponder BW
Expansion into non-standard bands, new frequency bands
Frequency Re-use
Narrower beams, increased spotbeam count, increased frequency re-use

19. Transitioning from Ku- to Ka-band

20. Transitioning from Ku- to Ka-band

21. Future HTS Developments
Demand drivers
quest for more throughput....the Netflix effect.....
Fast, cheap, good
Pick any two.....

22. Future HTS Developments – Efficiency Drivers / Goals
Increase Overall Throughput
Modulation efficiency
Use of new frequency bands for feeder links
Need to consider spectrum licensing and availability
Reduce Cost per Bit
Space segment cost – improve efficiency
Gateway efficiency – throughput / number of gateways
Reduce cost of user equipment / antennas / installation
Flexible Architecture
Respond to changing market demands
Increased deployment of processing payloads

23. Future HTS Developments – Additional Spectrum
Use additional feeder link spectrum
Q band
Space-to-earth 37.5 – 42.5 GHz
V band
Earth-to-space GHz
W band
Space-to-earth GHz
Earth-to-space GHz
Most ITU filings already include Q and V band
The race for spectrum has begun early
Equipment availability limited at this time

24. Current Ka Spectrum Usage (varies by ITU region)
Gateways
Users
Earth-to-space
27 GHz
29.5 GHz
30 GHz
Forward
Return
Gateways
Users
Space-to-earth
17.3GHz
19.7GHz
20.2GHz

25. Potential Future Usage - add Q and V bands
Gateways
Users
Earth-to-space
27 GHz
30 GHz
47.2 GHz
51.4 GHz
Forward
Return
Gateways
Users
Space-to-earth
17.3GHz
37.5 GHz
20.2GHz
42.5 GHz
Q band
Issues:
- Licensing of remote terminals over wider spectrum range
- Potential for interference to / from terrestrial users in shared Ka bands
- Coordination with non-GSO systems

26. New Space

27. Non-GEO Constellations
Optical Constellation
Laser Light
MEO constellation, 8 satellites, 6 Tbps throughput
Recent announcements of LEO HTS systems
COMMstellation 75 satellites
LEOSat
Oneweb
SpaceX
Samsung
Xinwei 30

28. HTS Constellations
Deployment of LEO HTS networks will represent order of magnitude increase in HTS capacity
Gbps
Gbps
2023 with one LEO 8500 Gbps
2023 with three LEO Gbps
Source: Northern Skies Research

29. LEO HTS Constellations - questions
Capacity density is lacking
Different constellations are focused on different applications
Backhaul
Direct to user broadband
Enterprise
Polar orbits
User terminal technology
Satellite switching
Electronically steered antenna technology
Launch Vehicle Capacity for large constellations
Where will the launch capacity come from?

30. Antenna Technology

31. Satellite News Gathering

32. Comms on the Move

33. Maritime Antennas

34. Aeronautical antennas

35. David Ball dball1301@gmail.com
Questions
David Ball