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 Founding and privatization (1969-2005) Telesat began in 1969 as Telesat Canada, a Canad ...

. Launched October 19, 2011 aboard a

Proton rocket Proton (, 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 still in use , making it ...

, 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 British reference book published annually, listi ...

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 orbit, circular geosynchronous or ...

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 (law), company founded on May 2, 1969. The company is headquartered in Ottawa. History Founding and privatization (1969-2005) Telesat began in 1969 as Telesat C ...

and are used for the Xplornet broadband service to consumers in rural Canada. The US beams provide fast Internet access called Exede, 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.

References

External links

Exede websiteLaunch overview

ViaSat-1 footprintsSystem technical overview

Design, 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

See also

References

External links