ViaSat-2 is a commercial

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 ...

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 Hughes Network Systems, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of EchoStar. It is headquartered in Germantown, Maryland and provides satellite internet service. HughesNet has over 1.3 million subscribers in the Americas. History Hughes Communication ...

EchoStar EchoStar Corporation is an American company, a worldwide provider of satellite communication and Internet services through its Hughes Network Systems and EchoStar Satellite Services business segments. EchoStar is based out of unincorporated Arapa ...

XIX launched in December 2016. It is the second

Ka-band The Ka band (pronounced as either "kay-ay band" or "ka band") is a portion of the microwave part of the electromagnetic spectrum defined as frequencies in the range 26.5–40 gigahertz (GHz), i.e. wavelengths from slightly over one centime ...

satellite launched by

ViaSat 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 to ...

after

ViaSat-1 ViaSat-1 is a high throughput communications satellite owned by Viasat Inc. and Telesat Canada. Launched October 19, 2011 aboard a Proton rocket, it held the Guinness record for the world's highest capacity communications satellite with a total ...

. The satellite provides

internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...

service through ViaSat (

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 tou ...

prior to rebranding) to North America, parts of South America, including Mexico and the Caribbean, and to air and maritime routes across the Atlantic Ocean to Europe.

History

In May 2013, ViaSat gave the construction contract of the satellite to

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

. On May 1, 2014 ViaSat sold capacity on the satellite to

Xplornet Communications Xplore Inc. is a Woodstock, New Brunswick-based rural internet service provider. It is the largest rural focused broadband service provider in Canada. History Xplore Inc. was founded in 2004 under the name Barrett Enterprises. In 2011, Barrett ...

. In January 2015, ViaSat gave the launch contract to

SpaceX Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal of ...

in an uncontested auction. After

SpaceX CRS-7 SpaceX CRS-7, also known as SpX-7, was a private American Commercial Resupply Service mission to the International Space Station, contracted to NASA, which launched and failed on June 28, 2015. It disintegrated 139 seconds into the flight aft ...

exploded after launch in June 2015, concerns arose that the investigation may affect the mission's launch window. On February 9, 2016

Arianespace Arianespace SA is a French company founded in 1980 as the world's first commercial launch service provider. It undertakes the operation and marketing of the Ariane programme. The company offers a number of different launch vehicles: the heavy ...

announced it had won contracts to launch ViaSat-2 and ViaSat-3 in 2017 and 2019, respectively. ViaSat-2 was launched on June 1, 2017 by

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 ...

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

. The launch date was originally set for April 25, 2017 but was delayed due to

social unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty m ...

affecting the spaceport area. ViaSat-2 successfully arrived in

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 altitud ...

at 69.9 degrees west longitude on December 5, 2017. The satellite employed a hybrid propulsion approach, using both traditional chemical as well as electric propulsion. The chemical propulsion subsystem was responsible for initial orbit raising and performing according to plan, setting the state for the follow-on ascent to geostationary orbit using electric propulsion, which was completed the last week of November 2017. Viasat spacecraft partner, Boeing Satellite Systems International, controlled and monitored ViaSat-2 throughout the orbit raising process, flying the satellite from its Mission Control Center in El Segundo, California.

Functionality

The $600 million satellite was intended to have a 300 Gbit/s throughput, up from

's 140 Gbit/s in 2011. It uses Ka-band frequencies. Problems with two of the four Ka-band antennae, leading to a less optimal coverage pattern than designed have reduced throughput to 260Gbit/s

References

{{Orbital launches in 2017 Spacecraft launched in 2017 Communications satellites in geostationary orbit Satellite Internet access Satellites using the BSS-702 bus High throughput satellites Ariane commercial payloads

History

Functionality

See also

References