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SATELLITE MOBILITY WORLDGottlieb's Independent Analysis and Commentary on Maritime, Aero and Land-based Satellite Technologies
Volume III, No 1 January 2018
In this Issue..."LEO on the Leading Edge: Telesat's Revolutionary New Constellation"An Interview with Telesat CEO, Dan Goldberg"Cyber Security at Sea - entegra's Unique Solution for VSAT An interview with entegra technologies CEO Nancy Shemwell"Riding the Wave to a Small Satellite Future" A Word with Abel Avellan, CEO of Avellan Space Technologies
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ith the increasing number of new LEO constellat ions being planned, the announcement of another entrant would hardly seem remarkable. Yet, as we spoke with integrators around the world, we found an unusual amount of enthusiasm and interest in Telesat 's planned LEO offering, so much so, that we decided to invest igate further.
What we found is a uniquely clever design that stands out from the crowd, a constellat ion that features a smaller number of satellites than has ever been proposed for a broadband LEO constellat ion, a dual low latency configurat ion combining Polar and ellipt ical orbits, interlinked satellites, and unique onboard processing enabling the delivery of localized capacity on demand - a capability far beyond the first generat ion of High Throughput Satellites (HTS).
To find out more, we approached Dan Goldberg, Telesat CEO, who was kind enough to grant "Satellite Mobility World" the opportunity for this exclusive interview.
LEO on the Leading Edge: Telesat's Revolutionary New ConstellationW
An Interview With Telesat CEO, Dan Goldberg
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SMW: Given the unique features of your planned LEO constellat ion, if it performs as expected, wouldn?t it effect ively cannibalize your own HTS GEO satellite market and would the capacity of your hybrid LEO constellat ion be enough to threaten other exist ing GEO networks? Dan Goldberg: First , I?d like to start by highlight ing some of the key advantages of Telesat LEO, namely our superior system design, global spectrum rights, strong backing from our investors and great interest from customers and potent ial partners, both in and outside the satellite industry. Telesat has a long record of industry firsts that have brought major satellite innovat ions to market and our LEO constellat ion will be another breakthrough that transforms global communicat ions. We?re on track to deploy global service start ing in 2021 and expect to make some big
announcements early this year regarding industrial and other strategic partners. Telesat?s focus is to provide our customers with the best performing space-based systems to meet their ever more demanding communicat ions requirements.
The overall service quality, reliability and cost of Telesat?s LEO system will be unmatched by any GEO, MEO or other LEO system and will allow us to fill a key gap in the global data connect ivity market. That?s why we?re developing our LEO constellat ion. All other considerat ions are really secondary.SMW: Your model incorporates the
use of 117 opt ically linked satellites, thereby eliminat ing the need for numerous gateways. How is the development coming on that aspect of the constellat ion? I understand it?s quite challenging.Dan Goldberg: We?re building an integrated space and ground system consist ing of a space
"The overall service quality, reliability and cost of Telesat?s LEO system will be unmatched by any GEO, MEO or other LEO system and will allow us to fill a key gap in the global data connectivity market."
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segment, a ground segment and a user terminal segment. Unlike GEO, a LEO satellite architecture must be an integrated, t ight ly coupled system to deliver our core value proposit ion of high capacity and low latency at low cost. That?s why we?ve engaged teams consist ing of satellite, gateway and user terminal manufacturers. Telesat LEO will provide global coverage by 2021 with a constellat ion of approximately 120 satellites and we?re evaluat ing opt ions to expand the system beyond this init ial configurat ion. The space segment will be supported with a worldwide network of 30 to 50 gateways. Addit ional gateways will be added in selected areas as demand for services increases.Our system will have high capacity inter-satellite links (ISLs) to provide the data rout ing flexibility that many of our global customers are demanding for security or regulatory reasons as well as to meet their connect ivity requirements.
The ISLs will enable a user terminal to connect direct ly to a Telesat LEO gateway anywhere in the world without traversing terrestrial networks. In addit ion, since data travels faster in space than over terrestrial fiber, for long intercont inental routes, our LEO ISLs will have lower latency than terrestrial fiber.A satellite with no gateway in view (e.g. over an ocean) will connect through other satellites via ISLs to reach the desired gateway. This capability allows any user terminal on earth to connect and ut ilize the full features of the Telesat LEO system, regardless of locat ion. The ISLs also support fault-tolerant rout ing, thereby improving constellat ion resiliency. SMW: Can you give us an idea of how the costs of the satellites compared to the non-interlinked variety employed in the OneWeb model? Dan Goldberg: We?re present ly in a competit ive procurement process and aren?t
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yet ready to provide details on system costs, but building and launching hundreds of satellites and associated ground infrastructure is certainly a big undertaking. We?re reviewing mult iple designs from leading manufacturers that will allow us to meet our performance and cost targets with the scale and capacity to establish a disrupt ive, low latency, ultra high capacity, flexible and global communicat ions infrastructure. But while the capital costs are significant, keep in mind that Telesat has considerable financial resources and strong backing from our investors. SMW: My understanding is that the ITU has granted you global ?priority rights? to 4 GHz of Ka-Band spectrum, and you have secured approval from the FCC to operate the LEO constellat ion over the U.S. Given that Leosat is developing somewhat similar Ka-Band constellat ion with similar market object ives, how can they st ill operate globally and compete with you? Please explain.
Dan Goldberg: I won?t comment on the prospects of other players, but I will note that Telesat has a Ka-band NGSO filing of higher priority at the ITU than any other commercial LEO aspirant and that puts us in the strongest posit ion in terms of our spectrum rights.
In many satellite frequency bands, including the Ka-band used by Telesat?s LEO constellat ion, a first-come, first-service approach to applicat ions applies. In the case of two applicat ions for the same frequency band, the later filed applicat ion must coordinate with the earlier filed applicat ion. The earlier filed applicat ion is considered to have ?priority.? There will have to be coordinat ion among LEO operators
seeking to use Ka-band, and Telesat?s ITU priority puts us in a strong posit ion to ensure we can operate our constellat ion as planned.As for the performance advantages of Telesat LEO, our system will provide Gbps links to individual customers while offering mult iple
"We expect to transform the economics of space-based communication systems with cost per Mbps at, or lower than, the lowest cost systems announced or in the market today."
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Tbps of total system capacity. Advanced technology on the Telesat LEO satellites allow spectrum and spacecraft resources to be dynamically allocated to best meet customer demand, providing high capacity around busy airports, for military operat ions in remote regions or a carrier batt le group, a fleet of ships in major ports, and into other areas of concentrated demand. We expect to transform the economics of space-based communicat ion systems with cost per Mbps at, or lower than, the lowest cost systems announced or in the market today. SMW: Your patent applicat ion mentions as target markets community broadband and hotspots, large enterprises, ships and planes, software updates and Internet of things, cellular backhaul, but not homes as init ial markets. What are your different iators in each of these markets?Dan Goldberg: Telesat LEO will deliver a
cont inuous, high quality service.
- For aviat ion, Telesat LEO will concentrate high capacity around major airports to ensure peak demand is met during the busiest periods of the day. Our global coverage will support a seamless user experience across every flight no matter its route, and low latency will provide superior in-flight connect ivity for passengers. Our low cost capacity will enable new business models for airlines as well as allowing connect ivity-led inflight automation for more efficient airline operat ions and improved profitability.
- The marit ime market , such as cruise and yachts, will also benefit from our constellat ion?s ability to focus capacity to meet seasonal demand when mult iple ships are in the same port .
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As cruise operators compete against land-based resorts, they will benefit from economical capacity to profitably deliver a user experience on par with advanced terrestrial networks, including low latency. The high resilience of Telesat LEO will ensure a cont inuous service, as ships will have mult iple satellites in their field of view.
- The oil and gas market will be transformed with a low latency service allowing for real-t ime data transfer between automated platforms and on-shore control centers. The Telesat LEO constellat ion will provide high capacity in any explorat ion and product ion area, even at high lat itudes. Availability of lower data rates will enable new business models and increase operat ional automation.
- For military users, the high bandwidth, low latency and high security of Telesat
LEO will unlock new, and boost exist ing, use cases such as enabling control and navigat ion of unmanned aerial vehicles. Global cont inuous coverage is provided over host ile territories without ground gateway requirements. The high bandwidth available will fully support requirements for MWR (morale, welfare, recreat ion) on land and in marit ime units.
Init ially we expect to provide Internet access into remote areas using a community aggregator model where Telesat LEO will connect villages with high speed Internet and then distribute broadband connect ivity through a local terrestrial network using fixed wireless, WiFi or 3G/4G.We believe there needs to be further development of low cost, electronically steerable antennas (ESAs) to be more cost competit ive for direct-to-home services. We are following the development of ESAs closely and are encouraged by the progress being made by a number of companies. We are confident we?ll be able to provide market leading Internet
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For more information
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connect ivity direct-to-home as soon as the required user antenna products are commercially available.SMW: Could you please clarify what you mean by ?Internet hotspots?? Does that mean placing an antenna on a centrally located structure and allowing resident ial access via Wi-Fi or LTE ? like the OneWeb concept?Dan Goldberg: Yes. To boost digital inclusion in remote and rural communit ies, the accelerat ion and growth of mobile broadband (MBB) is needed over cellular devices as well as fixed broadband (FBB) to households and inst itut ional premises (schools, hospitals, offices, etc.). Telesat LEO will provide competit ive backhaul solut ions to enable both MBB and FBB growth. Our backhaul solut ion will enable mobile network operators (MNOs) to economically expand coverage to remote communit ies and drive MBB growth. Imagine a small village with 20 homes in a very remote locat ion. While a 3G/4G network is not
economical for such a small populat ion, an Internet hotspot connected via satellite could be a perfect solut ion. We current ly offer backhaul services to such service providers today using our GEO satellites and will improve on them with the high throughput and low latency of our LEO system.SMW: With Ka-Band, rain fade has always been a problem, especially in the tropics, Southeast Asia and in marit ime markets. How will you deal with this issue?Dan Goldberg: Unlike GEO satellites that often experience extended rain outages, LEO satellites move across the sky so that a user?s line of sight doesn?t intersect a heavy rain cell for more than a couple of minutes. In addit ion, our LEO network will have transmit/receive power control and adaptive coding and modulat ion to mit igate fading due to rain. In the forward direct ion, when a satellite senses that a user antenna isn?t receiving a strong enough signal, it will increase the power transmitted down to that antenna and make adjustments to coding and modulat ion to maintain
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performance. Similarly, in the return direct ion, when a satellite senses that the power received from a user antenna has decreased, the satellite will direct the user terminal to adjust its power, modulat ion and coding to compensate. While brief rain outages may occur, these adaptive features will ensure that the space-ground links are maintained under the most demanding condit ions.SMW: If you use an ESA terminal and, as you state in the patents, that you intercept the satellite at 20-degree elevat ion, doesn?t that severely limit the throughput and make a case for more satellites that can intercept the satellite at a higher look angles? Essent ially, how do you get high throughput at a low look angle with a phased array?Dan Goldberg: Telesat LEO customers will always have mult iple LEO satellites in view and our Network Control System will handoff customers to the satellite that offers the best performance. Minimum user elevat ion angles
will be above 20 degrees with typical elevat ion angles much better than that. In addit ion, advanced features such as power control combined with adapt ive coding and modulat ion will dynamically allocate satellite resources to ensure that users receive a robust signal from the satellites at all t imes. As addit ional satellites are added to the constellat ion, both total capacity and minimum elevat ion angles will cont inue to improve. SMW: How will you distribute the service? Will you sell through integrators only, or will you go direct to end users in any markets?Dan Goldberg: Telesat has always believed strongly in the value of service providers and will cont inue to work with them to joint ly bring new LEO services to market. Telesat LEO will be a perfect complement for service providers with deep sector knowledge, customer relat ionships and vert ical-specific solut ions. For such service providers, we see it as a winning situat ion for Telesat, our partners and their end customers.
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SMW: As we both know, a flat panel electronically steered antenna (ESA) is vital component of LEO service, the only alternat ive being expensive installat ions with mult iple, mechanically steered antennas on land or mult iple stabilized and steered antennas on vessels. Where do you stand on development of an ESA for the planned constellat ion? Dan Goldberg: We agree that our industry needs advances in ground terminals to fully take advantage of the capabilit ies of NGSO systems, including Telesat?s LEO constellat ion. Telesat is addressing this in two ways. First , our LEO constellat ion will support both electronically steered and mechanically tracked antennas for serving fixed sites, air, marit ime, ground vehicles and other platforms, both military and commercial. So our success is not dependent on a big leap in ground terminal performance and capabilit ies. We expect our init ial service will use exist ing technology. In addit ion, flat panel antennas are being developed by various companies, both well-established
suppliers and new entrants. We?re following their developments and working direct ly with a number of these suppliers with the expectat ion that they will have high performance, cost-effect ive products on the market in a few years. Telesat is confident that at least one, and more likely several, satellite antenna suppliers will achieve the improvements in cost and performance that the LEO satellite market requires.SMW: What about modem technology? Does your hybrid LEO constellat ion pose any challenges to the modem manufacturers, especially given the more complex beam switching environment in a LEO or hybrid LEO constellat ion?Dan Goldberg: The modems needed for our constellat ion will not be any more complicated than satellite modems available today. They will simply need to be adapted for compatibility with our LEO network.
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SMW: Does the recent launch failure threaten your ability to retain your license for the polar constellat ion? What date restrict ions are you under in both cases for the init iat ion of service?Dan Goldberg: No, the recent launch failure doesn?t threaten our licenses or our regulatory posit ion more broadly. Our authorizat ions with Canada and the U.S. aren?t t ied to specific launches. Although we were certainly disappointed with the launch failure we experienced in late November, we have a second Phase-1 satellite scheduled for launch in early January 2018.SMW: Thanks very much for your comprehensive responses to our quest ions. In our view, what you are proposing is a significant advancement in satellite technology and constellat ion design. We look forward to seeing design finalized and the constellat ion launched and put in service. A.G.
About Dan Goldberg
Dan Goldberg became President and Chief Executive Officer of Telesat in 2006.
Prior to joining Telesat, Mr. Goldberg served as Chief Executive Officer of SES New Skies, a position he held following the purchase of New Skies by SES. During that time, Mr. Goldberg also served as a member of the SES Executive Committee.
Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer, he served as Chief Operating Officer of New Skies and prior to that as New Skies General Counsel.
Before joining New Skies, Mr. Goldberg served as Associate General Counsel and Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs at PanAmSat. He began his career as an associate at Covington & Burling and then Goldberg, Godles, Wiener & Wright, law firms in Washington D.C.
Mr. Goldberg obtained an undergraduate degree from the University of Virginia, graduating with the highest honors and earned a law degree from Harvard Law School, where he graduated cum laude.
