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....Designing the Perfect Satellite

Even in remote regions of the Asia-Pacific, anytime-Internet and televisionconnectivity is becoming an expectedservice, and as a result, demand for alltypes of communications infrastructure,including satellite, is growing. Cisco’sVisual Networking Index forecasts thatworldwide IP traffic will grow at acompound annual growth rate (CAGR)of 22 percent from 2015 to 2020, withthe Asia-Pacific identified as one of thefastest growing regions. The challengeto meet this heightened demand ishelping to spur innovation in satellitemanufacturing technologies and driving

Designing satellites for the Asia-Pacific

the development of next generationsolutions.

Demand for satelliteIn Asia, satellite manufacturers areseeing strong demand for mobilityservices and high throughput satellite(HTS) capacity. According to NorthernSky Research (NSR), Asia willrepresent 15 percent of the projectedUS$8.7 billion in aviation and maritimeretail revenues by 2024, and willbecome a key market for connectivityat sea and in the air (Maritime SatcomMarkets).

For the aviation industry, therequirements of the connected planeand the increasing popularity of in-flightentertainment contribute to the demandfor satellite. As airline customers andcrew grow to expect Internet availability,even while flying thousands of feetabove Earth and over oceans, HTSservices will grow in parallel with theincreased capacity that can providebetter service.

As one of the leading satellitemanufacturers in world, SSL has felt theeffects of the growth in maritime andaviation markets, with satellite operators

Satellite manufacturers have a tricky role to play; they must design the perfect satellite, tocustomer requirements, with an eye to the potential market for the next 15-20 years. With theboom in connectivity demand reaching even the most remote locations, getting the right coverageat the right cost is a challenging task. Tony Colucci, VP, Business Development and DarylMossman, VP, Marketing and Sales, at SSL, provide an overview of the changing satelliteindustry, and an insight into how SSL designs and manufactures satellites for a specific market.

JCSAT-14 provides high speed connectivity for maritime and aviation.

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Designing the Perfect Satellite....

increasingly requesting this type ofcoverage capacity. The recentlylaunched JCSAT-14 satellite, built bySSL for SKY Perfect JSAT (SJC), is oneexample that utilizes regional beams toprovide high-speed connectivity formaritime and aviation.

Emerging requirementsIn addition to the growth in IP traffic, therising use of 3G, 4G, and LTE cellulartechnologies is contributing to the needfor additional satellite backhaul. As cellphones penetrate into remote regions,mobile operators are extending

coverage areas and service offerings.For many users, their smart phone istheir only access point to the Internet,and as such, some governments havelaunched Universal Service Obligation(USO) programs which require mobileoperators to deliver services to ruralareas in order to help bridge the digitaldivide.

Demand for satellite capacity is alsobeing spurred in more industrializedregions by emerging technologies likethe Internet of things (IoT), whichrequires the connectivity of anincreasing number of systems anddevices, including vehicles, phones,factories, and homes. Satellites thatprovide the capacity and flexibilityrequired by these devices are becomingincreasingly important as connecteddevices proliferate. AsiaSat 9, which isunder construction at SSL, is anexample of a satellite for the region thatwill provide broadband networkservices in addition to its broadcastservices.

Demand for broadcast capacity inAsia also continues to be strong. In

Tony Colucci, VP, Business Development Daryl Mossman, VP, Marketing and Sales

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....Designing the Perfect Satellite

2016, SSL will have delivered threesatellites to SJC, one of which will beused to deliver broadcast services likepay TV to its 3.4 million subscribers inJapan. These satellites will allow SJCto expand its offering of Ultra HD to theregion.

For transaction data, Bank BRI,Indonesia’s leading bank, became thefirst bank to own and operate its ownsatellite. In 2014 the bank determinedthat all of the existing capacity overIndonesia was not enough to meet itsgrowing need for network capacity andservice level quality.

Launched in 2016, the SSL-builtBRIsat satellite now helps providesecure banking communications toalmost 60 million people across theIndonesian archipelago, includinglocations where banking services werepreviously unavailable.

Innovating to meet demandTo meet demand, SSL works closelywith its customers to integrateinnovative systems and technologiesthat will support the high performance,better economics, and increasedaccessibility that broaden the market forsatellite-based solutions. Despite thegrowth in demand for connectivity in theregion, it is a value-driven environment,and it often takes creative solutions insatellite design to help operatorsdifferentiate themselves for long termsuccess. For many manufacturers, thereis an increasing focus on flexibility andstandardization.

FlexibilityAs the market becomes increasinglycompetitive, operators want to be ableto focus capacity exactly where it isneeded. This flexibility can be achievedusing switching and moveable reflectorson a bent pipe satellite, and it can alsobe enabled with on board processing.In order for satellite operators to provideservice to specific markets and regions,software defined payloads with thecapability to align capacity with demandon orbit are gaining traction.

Spot beam technology, which is thecornerstone of HTS, also has thecapability to deliver highly tailoredcapacity to multiple specific regions. Forexample, Telesat’s Telstar 18 VANTAGEsatellite, which is currently beingmanufactured at SSL, will use acombination of broad regional beamsand high throughput spot beams todeliver flexible capacity to China,Mongolia, Southeast Asia, the Pacific

Ocean, and even Hawaii, enablingdirect connectivity between any point inAsia and the Americas.

StandardizationSSL is working to standardize payloadhardware to enable shorter schedulesand lower costs, and providing satelliteplatforms that work across a variety oflarger and smaller launch vehicles inorder to match launch cost to systemcost. With its standardized design andstreamlined production and testingprocesses, SSL can provide GEOcommunications satellites in 24 monthsor less.

Recently launched satellites suchas BRIsat and Intelsat 36 are examplesof this accelerated scheduling. Whensatellite operators work closely withmanufacturers to discuss their needs,beyond simply providing a list ofspecifications or requirements, they canbenefit from manufacturing best

practices and standardized hardwarefor faster delivery and better value.

Power and capacityIn some regions, there is demand forUltra High Throughput Satellite (UHTS)solutions that provide broad coverageand lower the overall cost per megabit.In the article, “Financial Impact of aCapacity Explosion,” Northern SkyResearch suggests that in order toremain competitive with terrestrialsolutions, there is an increasing trendfor satellite operators to build muchbigger HTS payloads than ever before.

In the appropriate situations, thecost of one large HTS satellite is lessthan the cost of multiple traditional FixedSatellite Services (FSS) satellites tosupply the same amount of capacity. Forexample, the two SSL-built SkyMuster™ satell ites, which werelaunched in October 2015 and October2016 for the nbn™ network, are

The BRIsat satellite helps the Indonesian bank to provide enhanced secure bankingcommunications for almost 60 million customers across the Indonesian archipelago,including locations where banking services were previously unavailable.

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designed to provide high throughputbroadband service to more than400,000 premises across Australia. Thehighly tailored capacity that the SkyMuster™ satellites deliver to ruralAustralia would be impossible to deliverwith two traditional FSS satellites.

SSL has provided two of the highestcapacity broadband satellites in servicetoday, and has built or is building nearly50 satellites with HTS payloads. ForAsia, SSL built the THAICOM 4 (alsoknown as IPSTAR) satellite, whichlaunched in 2005 and was the world’sfirst HTS satellite, and it is currentlybuilding Telesat’s Telstar 18 VANTAGEsatell ite, which will provide highcapacity over the Asia-Pacific region.

Electric propulsionElectric and hybrid electric satellitepropulsion systems also contribute tothe high power and flexibil ityrequirements of next-generationsatellite solutions. Because electricpropulsion is more fuel efficient thantraditional bipropellant propulsion, it cansave hundreds of kilograms on launchmass, which allows for more payloadmass or reduced launch cost.

SSL was one of the first satellitemanufacturers to successfully integrateelectric propulsion into its satellitedesigns. With its first electric thrusterlaunched in 2004, SSL has anoutstanding track record in electricpropulsion. The company currently has26 satellites with electric propulsion onorbit, representing roughly 100cumulative on orbit years, and 50,000hours of active thruster operation. Morethan half of the satellites in SSL’smanufacturing queue are designed touse electric propulsion and SSL’s firstall-electric propulsion system will fly onEutelsat 7C.

The future of satellite technologyThe way forward for satell itemanufacturers is driven by globaleconomics and market trends. Evolvingdemand for throughput, both small andlarge platforms, high power and moreflexibility can be met with both dedicatedand multi-payload systems. For theAsia-Pacific, CondoSats and hostedpayloads also provide value for smallerregions, and can in some situations cutthe cost of the launch in half.

The Asia-Pacific region is veryimportant to SSL. Currently, about onethird of the satellites in production atSSL have been carefully tailored tomeet the needs of the Asia-Pacific

market. While SSL is the leader inbuilding very high power satellites, italso provide smaller satellites on shortschedules. The satellite industry is

constantly evolving and manufacturersare paving the way with flexiblesolutions that are ready to meet nextgeneration demand.

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