ViaSat-1 is a
high throughput communications satellite owned by
Viasat Inc. and
Telesat Canada
Telesat, formerly Telesat Canada, is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa.
History
Telesat began as Telesat Canada, a Canadian Crown corporation created by an Act of Parl ...
. Launched October 19, 2011 aboard a
Proton rocket
Proton (Russian: Протон) (formal designation: UR-500) is an expendable launch system used for both commercial and Russian government space launches. The first Proton rocket was launched in 1965. Modern versions of the launch system are sti ...
, it held the
Guinness record
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
for the world's highest capacity communications satellite with a total capacity in excess of 140 Gbit/s, more than all the satellites covering North America combined, at the time of its launch.
ViaSat-1 is capable of two-way communications with small dish antennas at higher speeds and a lower cost-per-bit than any satellite before.
The satellite is positioned at 115.1 degrees West longitude
geostationary orbit
A geostationary orbit, also referred to as a geosynchronous equatorial orbit''Geostationary orbit'' and ''Geosynchronous (equatorial) orbit'' are used somewhat interchangeably in sources. (GEO), is a circular geosynchronous orbit in altitu ...
point, with 72 Ka-band spot beams; 63 over the U.S. (Eastern and Western states, Alaska and Hawaii), and nine over Canada.
The Canadian beams are owned by satellite operator
Telesat
Telesat, formerly Telesat Canada, is a Canadian satellite communications company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa.
History
Telesat began as Telesat Canada, a Canadian Crown corporation created by an Act of Pa ...
and are used for the Xplornet broadband service to consumers in rural Canada. The US beams provide fast Internet access called
Exede
Viasat may refer to:
*Viasat (American company) (founded 1986)
*Viasat (Nordic television service) (founded 1991)
* Danish 1st Division, officially Viasat Divisionen, second-highest football league in Denmark
* Viasat Cup, 2006 Danish football tour ...
, Viasat's satellite Internet service.
ViaSat-1 is part of a new satellite system architecture created by Viasat Inc. The objective is to create a better satellite broadband user experience, making satellite competitive with DSL and wireless broadband alternatives for the first time.
See also
*
ViaSat-2
ViaSat-2 is a commercial communications satellite launched June 1, 2017 and went live late February 2018. It was advertised to be the world's highest capacity communications satellite with a throughput of 300 Gbit/s, succeeding HughesNet EchoSta ...
*
ViaSat Exede Internet
*
High-throughput satellite
High-throughput satellite (HTS) is a communications satellite that provides more throughput than a classic FSS satellite (at least twice, though usually by a factor of 20 or more) for the same amount of allocated orbital spectrum, thus significan ...
– This type of communication satellite.
*
Satellite Internet access
Satellite Internet access is Internet access provided through communication satellites. Modern consumer grade satellite Internet service is typically provided to individual users through geostationary satellites that can offer relatively high d ...
References
External links
Exede websiteLaunch overviewViasat-1 footprintsSystem technical overviewDesign, build and launch summary video
Xplornet Communications Inc.
Presentation to FCC International Bureau
{{Orbital launches in 2011
Communications satellites in geostationary orbit
Satellite Internet access
High throughput satellites
Spacecraft launched in 2011
First artificial satellites of a country
Communications in the Isle of Man
2011 in the Isle of Man