The Sky Muster satellites are two

geostationary 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 altitude ...

(GEO)

communications satellite A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a receiver at different locations on Earth. C ...

s operated by NBN Co Limited and built by SSL. They were launched in 2015 and 2016 to provide fast broadband in areas where NBN didn't want to either lay fiber or install enough wireless antennas and offshore. They provide download speeds of up to 25 Mbit/s, and upload speeds of 5 Mbit/s in a best-case scenario. Each Sky Muster has 101

spot beam A spot beam, in telecommunications parlance, is a satellite signal that is specially concentrated in power (i.e. sent by a high-gain antenna) so that it will cover only a limited geographic area on Earth. Spot beams are used so that only Earth stat ...

s, which are focused satellite signals which are specially concentrated in power and cover a specific geographic area. The electromagnetic K_a band spot beams are used to carry information from the end users' equipment on the ground to the satellites. Each satellite offers 80 gigabits per second of bandwidth. The two satellites will provide high-speed broadband service to 400,000 Australian homes and businesses in rural and remote Australia. The two satellites were designed to provide service for at least 15 years. Sky Muster I (NBN-Co 1A) was launched on 1 October 2015 from the

Guiana Space Centre The Guiana Space Centre (french: links=no, Centre spatial guyanais; CSG), also called Europe's Spaceport, is a European spaceport to the northwest of Kourou in French Guiana, a region of France in South America. Kourou is located approximatel ...

in French Guiana, South America, alongside Argentina's

ARSAT-2 ARSAT-2 is a geostationary communications satellite operated by ARSAT and built by the Argentine company INVAP. It was launched from French Guiana alongside Sky Muster satellite using an Ariane 5ECA rocket on September 30, 2015 at 20:30hs UTC, ...

, on an

Ariane 5 Ariane 5 is a European heavy-lift space launch vehicle developed and operated by Arianespace for the European Space Agency (ESA). It is launched from the Centre Spatial Guyanais (CSG) in French Guiana. It has been used to deliver payloads int ...

ECA rocket. Sky Muster I operates in geostationary orbit of 140° East. Its orbital position is at the

equator The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...

, north of Australia. Sky Muster I became operational in April 2016. Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) was launched on 5 October 2016, and operates in geostationary orbit of 145° East. Initial services were offered on the service to end users commencing in January, 2016. As of June 2020, there are over 100,000 active customers connected to a Sky Muster service, with the largest single Retail Service Provider of Sky Muster services being Activ8me with over 35,000 active Sky Muster connections.

Background

The two NBN satellites, Sky Muster (NBN-Co 1A) and Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B), were conceived in 2012 under the Gillard Labor government, as part of the original

National Broadband Network The National Broadband Network (NBN) is an Australian national wholesale open-access data network. It includes wired and radio communication components rolled out and operated by NBN Co, a Government-owned corporation. Internet service provider ...

scheme and NBN Co contracted

Space Systems/Loral SSL, formerly Space Systems/Loral, LLC (SS/L), of Palo Alto, California, is a wholly owned manufacturing subsidiary of Maxar Technologies. SSL designs and builds satellites and space systems for a wide variety of government and commercial cust ...

(SSL) to build and launch the two satellites as part of a total investment costing . The launch was conducted in accordance with the ''Space Activities Act 1998'', which requires Ministerial approval for the launch of a space object from Australia or the launch of a space object by an Australian entity from an overseas location. Bailey Brooks, a six-year old

School of the Air School of the Air is a generic term for correspondence schools catering for the primary and early secondary education of children in remote and outback Australia where some or all classes were historically conducted by radio, although this is n ...

student who lives on a

cattle station In Australia and New Zealand, a cattle station is a large farm ( station is equivalent to the American ranch), the main activity of which is the rearing of cattle. The owner of a cattle station is called a '' grazier''. The largest cattle stati ...

from Alice Springs, won a competition to draw a picture of how the satellite benefits rural Australians. Her drawing of the rocket was printed on the

payload fairing A payload fairing is a nose cone used to protect a spacecraft payload against the impact of dynamic pressure and aerodynamic heating during launch through an atmosphere. An additional function on some flights is to maintain the cleanroom environm ...

, and her class named NBN-Co 1A "Sky Muster" as it would bring Australians together like a

cattle muster A muster (Au/NZ) or a roundup (US/Ca) is the process of gathering livestock. Musters usually involve cattle, sheep or horses, but may also include goats, camels, buffalo or other animals. Mustering may be conducted for a variety of reasons in ...

References

External links

Sky Muster Launch

{{Orbital launches in 2015 Satellites of Australia Spacecraft launched in 2015 2015 in Australia