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High-throughput satellite

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A high-throughput satellite (HTS) is a communications satellite which provides more throughput than a classic fixed service satellite (FSS). An HTS provides at least twice, though usually 20 times or more,[1] throughput for the same amount of allocated orbital spectrum, thus significantly reducing cost-per-bit.[2] ViaSat-1 and EchoStar XVII (also known as Jupiter-1[3]) provide more than 100 Gbit/s of capacity, which is more than 100 times the capacity offered by a conventional FSS satellite.[4] When it was launched in October 2011, ViaSat-1 had more capacity (140 Gbit/s) than all other commercial communications satellites over North America combined.[5]

Overview

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The significant increase in capacity is achieved by a high level frequency re-use and spot beam technology which enables frequency re-use across multiple narrowly focused[1] spot beams (usually in the order of hundreds of kilometers),[1] as in cellular networks, which both are defining technical features of high-throughput satellites. By contrast traditional satellite technology utilizes a broad single beam (usually in the order of thousands of kilometers)[1] to cover wide regions or even entire continents.[1] In addition to a large amount of bandwidth capacity HTS are defined by the fact that they often, but not solely, target the consumer market.[6] In the last 10 years, the majority of high-throughput satellites operated in the Ka band (26.5–40 GHz), however this is not a defining criterion, and at the beginning of 2017 there were at least 10 Ku band (12–16 GHz) HTS satellite projects, of which 3 had launched and 7 were in construction.

Initially, HTS systems used satellites in the same geosynchronous orbit (at an altitude of 35,786 km) as satellite TV craft (with satellites such as KA-SAT, Yahsat 1A and Astra 2E sharing TV and HTS functionality) but the round-trip delay for internet protocol transmission via a geosynchronous satellite can exceed 550 ms which is detrimental to many digital connectivity applications, such as automated stock trades, on-line gaming and Skype video chats.[7][8] and the focus for HTS is increasingly shifting to the lower Medium Earth orbit (MEO) and Low Earth orbit (LEO), with altitudes as low as 600 km[9] and delays as short as 40ms.[10] Also, the lower path losses of MEO and LEO orbits reduces ground station and satellite power requirements and costs, and so vastly increased throughput and global coverage is achieved by using constellations of many smaller, cheaper high-throughput satellites.[11][8] SES's O3b constellation was the first MEO high-throughput satellite system, launched in 2013, and by 2018 more than 18,000 new LEO satellites had been proposed to launch by 2025.[12]

Despite the higher costs associated with spot beam technology, the overall cost per circuit is considerably lower as compared to shaped beam technology.[1] While Ku band FSS bandwidth can cost well over $100 million per gigabit per second in space, HTS like ViaSat-1 can supply a gigabit of throughput in space for less than $3 million.[6] While a reduced cost per bit is often cited as a substantial advantage of high-throughput satellites, the lowest cost per bit is not always the main driver behind the design of an HTS system, depending on the industry it will be serving.[13]

HTS are primarily deployed to provide broadband Internet access service (point-to-point) to regions unserved or underserved by terrestrial technologies where they can deliver services comparable to terrestrial services in terms of pricing and bandwidth. While many current HTS platforms were designed to serve the consumer broadband market, some are also offering services to government and enterprise markets, as well as to terrestrial cellular network operators who face growing demand for broadband backhaul to rural cell sites. For cellular backhaul, the reduced cost per bit of many HTS platforms creates a significantly more favorable economic model for wireless operators to use satellite for cellular voice and data backhaul. Some HTS platforms are designed primarily for the enterprise, telecom or maritime sectors. HTS can furthermore support point-to-multipoint applications and even broadcast services such as DTH distribution to relatively small geographic areas served by a single spot beam.

A fundamental difference between HTS satellites is the fact that certain HTS are linked to ground infrastructure through a feeder link using a regional spot beam dictating the location of possible teleports while other HTS satellites allow the use of any spot beam for the location of the teleports. In the latter case, the teleports can be set up in a wider area as their spotbeams' footprints cover entire continents and regions like it is the case for traditional satellites .[14]

Industry analysts at Northern Sky Research believe that high-throughput satellites will supply at least 1.34 TB/s of capacity by 2020[14] and thus will be a driving power for the global satellite backhaul market which is expected to triple in value – jumping from the 2012 annual revenue of about US$800 million to $2.3 billion by 2021.[15]

KA-SAT coverage over Europe showing frequency reuse by different colors

List of high-throughput satellites

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See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f Rajesh Mehrotra (7 October 2011). "Regulation of Global Broadband Satellite Communications" (PDF). discussion paper. ITU. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  2. ^ Patrick M. French (7 May 2009). "High Throughput Satellites (HTS) are pushing open the satellite market door" (PDF). guest column. Near Earth LLC. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2012. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  3. ^ Krebs, Gunter. "Echostar 17 / Jupiter 1". Gunter's Space Page. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
  4. ^ de Selding, Peter B. (18 March 2010). "Satellite Broadband Industry Looks To Overcome Image Problem". news article. Spacenews.com. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  5. ^ Jonathan Amos (22 October 2011). "Viasat broadband 'super-satellite' launches". news article. BBC. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  6. ^ a b Giovanni Verlini (1 April 2011). "Next Generation of Satellite: High Capacity, High Potential". news article. Satellite Today. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2012.
  7. ^ Real-Time Latency: Rethinking Remote Networks Archived 2021-07-21 at the Wayback Machine Telesat, February 2020, Accessed 25 March 2021
  8. ^ a b Henry, Caleb (13 March 2018). "LEO and MEO broadband constellations mega source of consternation". SpaceNews. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  9. ^ Large LEO satellite constellations: Will it be different this time? McKinsey & Company, 4 May 2020, Accessed 25 march 2021
  10. ^ Low Earth Orbit satellites, improving latency OmniAccess, Accessed 29 October 2020
  11. ^ LEO constellations and tracking challenges Satellite Evolution Group, September 2017, Accessed 25 March 2021
  12. ^ NSR Reports China's Ambitious Constellation of 300 Small Satellites in LEO SatNews, 8 March 2018, Accessed 25 March 2021
  13. ^ "The Bottom Line Archives Bottom Line". Northern Sky Research. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  14. ^ a b David Bettinger (2 July 2012). "Virtual Partner Series – HTS and VSAT: New Implications, New Opportunities". blog article. iDirect. Archived from the original on 22 July 2012. Retrieved 21 July 2012.
  15. ^ Nick Ruble (18 July 2012). "Market Shift: HTS and O3b Satellites on the Rise". feature article. Satellite spotlight. Retrieved 22 July 2012.
  16. ^ "Satellite Mission Catalogue - WINDS". eoportal.org. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  17. ^ "Eutelsat's High-Throughput KA-SAT Satellite on Track for December 20 Launch". Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  18. ^ "EUTELSAT'S KA-SAT Satellite Successfully Lofted into Orbit by ILS Proton Rocket". Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  19. ^ "Ariane ECA launches with Yahsat 1A and Intelsat on second attempt". NASASpaceFlight.com. 22 April 2011. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  20. ^ Bergin, Chris (5 July 2012). "Ariane 5 ECA launches with MSG-3 and EchoStar XVII". NASASpaceflight.com. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  21. ^ "Avanti announces successful launch of its HYLAS 2 Satellite". businesswire.com. August 2, 2012. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  22. ^ "Telebras e Viasat celebram Contrato Estratégico para avançar no uso comercial da capacidade do SGDC-1". viasat.com (in Portuguese). 2019-04-29. Retrieved 2024-05-25.
  23. ^ Henry, Caleb (July 5, 2017). "SpaceX crests double-digit marker, notching tenth launch this year". Space News.
  24. ^ "GSAT-19 - ISRO". www.isro.gov.in. Archived from the original on 2017-07-31. Retrieved 2017-06-05.
  25. ^ Dean, James (4 June 2018). "SpaceX Falcon 9 delivers massive commercial satellite to orbit from Cape Canaveral". Florida Today. Retrieved 13 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Satelit Broadband Pertama Indonesia". psn.co.id. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  27. ^ "Kacific1 High Throughput Satellite". kacific.com. Retrieved November 13, 2022.
  28. ^ "Arianespace launches Eutelsat, ISRO satellites on first 2020 mission". SpaceNews. 2020-01-16. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
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