{"id":17406,"date":"2022-03-22T20:22:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-22T12:22:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/amid-challenges-kymeta-and-oneweb-sign-deal-to-widen-satellite-broadband-access\/"},"modified":"2022-03-22T20:22:01","modified_gmt":"2022-03-22T12:22:01","slug":"amid-challenges-kymeta-and-oneweb-sign-deal-to-widen-satellite-broadband-access","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/amid-challenges-kymeta-and-oneweb-sign-deal-to-widen-satellite-broadband-access\/","title":{"rendered":"Amid challenges, Kymeta and OneWeb sign deal to widen satellite broadband access"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full-width\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Kymeta antenna tested with OneWeb satellite service\" class=\"wp-image-658828\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/12\/211201-kymeta.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption>Engineers test Kymeta\u2019s antenna system with OneWeb\u2019s satellite service in France. (OneWeb via YouTube)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Bill Gates, has signed a distribution partner agreement with OneWeb to offer satellite broadband services around the globe.<\/p>\n<p>The agreement clears the way for Kymeta to resell OneWeb services in conjunction with fixed-site and mobile hardware solutions to government and commercial customers globally.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcement comes as Kymeta sharpens its focus on commercial, government and military customers \u2014 and as OneWeb copes with challenges related to Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>Just three months ago, the two companies agreed to adapt Kymeta\u2019s u8 flat-panel antenna system to support communications with OneWeb\u2019s satellite constellation in low Earth orbit, or LEO, with an eye toward bringing the system to market by the end of this year.<\/p>\n<p>But that was before Russian forces invaded Ukraine, setting off a cascade of economic sanctions and broken business ties. Russia\u2019s Soyuz rockets, which have launched all 428 of the OneWeb satellites currently in orbit, are no longer an option. This month, Russia canceled a scheduled launch and seized 36 of OneWeb\u2019s satellites when the venture refused to change its British-Indian ownership structure and guarantee that the satellites wouldn\u2019t be used for military purposes.<\/p>\n<p>This week, OneWeb announced a deal to have future satellites launched on SpaceX\u2019s rockets. That deal is unusual, because OneWeb\u2019s broadband service is arguably a competitor for SpaceX\u2019s Starlink service. Starlink is already available in selected markets \u2014 including Ukraine \u2014 while OneWeb hasn\u2019t yet begun service.<\/p>\n<p>In today\u2019s announcement, Kymeta and OneWeb talked up the promise of satellite-based mobile connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether connectivity is needed on land, at sea or in the air,&nbsp;Kymeta&nbsp;continues to deliver through innovation and&nbsp;strong partner relationships,\u201d said Walter Berger, Kymeta\u2019s president and co-CEO. \u201cOur distinctive technology can switch between linear and circular polarization in software, allowing support for both LEO and GEO Ku-band constellations without any physical changes to the hardware required.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"OneWeb I Kymeta : Engineering mobile connectivity together\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ByghgwnGUfg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><br \/>\n<\/figure>\n<p>OneWeb CEO Neil Masterson said the agreement with Kymeta is \u201canother example of OneWeb\u2019s dedication to enabling resilient and secure connectivity for all with fast, high-bandwidth and low-latency communications services that enhances lives and can be accessed through revolutionary technology like&nbsp;Kymeta\u2019s flat-panel u8.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The new Kymeta service will offer stand-alone OneWeb satellite connectivity, or a package that also includes connectivity from geostationary satellites. That would be particularly attractive to military users looking for access to a multi-constellation platform while on the move.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Kymeta said it closed on an $84 million funding round led by Bill Gates, aimed at accelerating the production of its flat-panel antennas and expanding its offerings for military customers as well as LEO satellite broadband users. In today\u2019s announcement, Berger emphasized the defense-related applications.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cKymeta\u2019s expansion into managed satellite services allows us to package our hardware solutions as a service, a capability the U.S. DoD [Department of Defense] and other users are increasingly seeking,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Kymeta has also announced new product branding to sharpen the focus on its three target markets. Its commercial connectivity terminal will be known as the Hawk u8, the terminal for government applications will be the Goshawk u8, and the terminal for military applications will be the Osprey u8.<\/p>\n<p>That emphasis on commercial, government and military customers \u2014 as opposed to individual consumers \u2014 meshes with OneWeb\u2019s current market strategy.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update for 12:10 p.m. PT March 22:<\/strong> OneWeb also has announced a partnership with Eutelsat to provide LEO connectivity services; with Speedcast for service distribution; and with Telstra to make use of gateway services at teleports across Australia, <\/p>\n<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Engineers test Kymeta\u2019s antenna system with OneWeb\u2019s satellite service in France. (OneWeb via YouTube) Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Bill Gates, has signed a distribution partner agreement with OneWeb to offer satellite broadband services around the globe. The agreement clears the way for Kymeta to resell OneWeb services in conjunction [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4591,252,354,1277,20,4336,442],"class_list":["post-17406","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-antennas","tag-broadband","tag-kymeta","tag-oneweb","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17406"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17406"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17406\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17406"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17406"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17406"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}