{"id":17500,"date":"2021-09-07T19:11:38","date_gmt":"2021-09-07T11:11:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/kymeta-teams-up-with-oneweb-to-test-mobile-satellite-broadband-service\/"},"modified":"2021-09-07T19:11:38","modified_gmt":"2021-09-07T11:11:38","slug":"kymeta-teams-up-with-oneweb-to-test-mobile-satellite-broadband-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/kymeta-teams-up-with-oneweb-to-test-mobile-satellite-broadband-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Kymeta teams up with OneWeb to test mobile satellite broadband service"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_640165\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-640165\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-640165\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-630x319.jpg\" alt=\"Kymeta-OneWeb test rig\" width=\"630\" height=\"319\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-630x319.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-1260x638.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-768x389.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-1536x778.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/210907-kymeta-2048x1037.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-640165\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Kymeta and OneWeb test a u8-based data terminal with OneWeb\u2019s constellation of satellites. (Kymeta Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has joined forces with OneWeb to test satellite broadband services that make use of Kymeta\u2019s u8 flat-panel antenna system.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m very happy to report back that the tests were fantastic,\u201d Neville Meijers, Kymeta\u2019s chief strategy and marketing officer, told GeekWire. \u201cBoth sets of management were extremely pleased with the performance of the antenna.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Meijers said that the tests of satellite acquisition, tracking and throughput \u2014 conducted in June and July in Toulouse, France \u2014 should bode well for providing always-there mobile connectivity for first responders as well as for government, military and enterprise customers.<\/p>\n<p>That market is the sweet spot for Kymeta as well as for OneWeb, a satellite constellation venture that\u2019s partly owned by the British government. One of OneWeb\u2019s key partners is Airbus, which is headquartered in the Toulouse region.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s report on the Kymeta-OneWeb team-up was timed to coincide with this week\u2019s Satellite 2021 conference. Kymeta also took the occasion to announce that Walter Z. Berger and S. Douglas Hutcheson have become the company\u2019s new co-CEOs <strong>(details below)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Kymeta is one of several Gates-backed ventures based on metamaterials \u2014 exotic arrays of electronics that make it possible to \u201csteer\u201d a stationary flat-panel antenna using software. Commercial applications of the technology were pioneered at Intellectual Ventures, based in Bellevue, Wash.<\/p>\n<p>Kymeta\u2019s u8 terminal has been commercially available for hybrid cellular-satellite connectivity applications since last year. For this summer\u2019s test, the terminal was modified to hook up with OneWeb\u2019s network of nearly 300 satellites in low Earth orbit, or LEO.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"OneWeb I Kymeta : Engineering mobile connectivity together\" 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=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Meijers said the system was able to receive signals at a rate of about 200 megabits per second, and transmit at more than 40 Mbps, with latencies of 30 to 70 milliseconds. Latency \u2014 the time that\u2019s required to receive signals at the speed of light \u2014 is a key advantage of LEO constellations. The shorter the time, the better the response for applications such as videoconferencing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA typical GEO [geostationary Earth orbit] network would be in the range of 600 milliseconds,\u201d Meijers said. \u201cA typical LTE [cellular] network would be somewhere in the region of 40 to 80 milliseconds.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What\u2019s more, Meijers said the signal-to-noise ratio was \u201cimpressive.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Valery Gineste, OneWeb\u2019s senior director of technology, said he was \u201cexcited about the performance demonstrated in these early test results.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe u8 will offer another great choice for OneWeb\u2019s end customers, particularly those with constrained space requirements or who need communications on the move when OneWeb mobility services start to become available from the end of 2022,\u201d Gineste said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>Meijers said Kymeta\u2019s OneWeb terminal would roll out in mid-2022.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the second half of 2022, we will also actually bring out a terminal that has the capability to switch between GEO and LEO automatically,\u201d he said. That should be particularly attractive for defense customers who want to switch between high-security GEO and low-latency LEO channels, Meijers said. Those customers, along with first responders, constitute Kymeta\u2019s initial target market.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re not a product that is targeted at consumers in the home \u2014 although in the future, with mobility-type products that are needed for autonomous vehicles, connected cars, busing, mining, trucking and agriculture, we are definitely focused on building our products for that sector of the market,\u201d Meijers said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"How OneWeb's system works\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8_kytEDxC0A?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>OneWeb has said that it\u2019ll start offering broadband internet services in Arctic regions by the end of this year, and it\u2019s aiming to deliver full global coverage by mid-2022. Kymeta\u2019s u8 terminal will be one of several options offered for OneWeb connectivity.<\/p>\n<p>The team-up with OneWeb is just one of Kymeta\u2019s partnerships for satellite connectivity: The existing u8 system can connect with satellites operated by a variety of GEO satellite companies including Intelsat, Echostar and Telesat. And last winter, Kymeta successfully tested its u8 terminals with Kepler\u2019s LEO constellation, which is optimized for smart-device networking.<\/p>\n<p>Other key players in the LEO satellite connectivity market include SpaceX, whose Starlink network is currently in an advanced beta mode; and Amazon, which is laying the groundwork for its Project Kuiper network but hasn\u2019t yet launched any satellites. Meijers talked around a question about plans to work with Starlink or Kuiper.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll I can say is that we work with all of the LEO constellations out there,\u201d he said. \u201cWe think that both OneWeb and Starlink are really driving huge chainge in the satellite industry, and we welcome that. \u2026 Competition validates the business model that we\u2019re going after, and we welcome working with all of the LEO and GEO players out there in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Update for 10:35 a.m. PT Sept. 7:<\/strong> Kymeta says its two newly named co-CEOs \u201cwill further strengthen the company\u2019s continued advancement forward and launch Kymeta into the next phase of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Walter Z. Berger previously served as president and chief operating officer, and will now serve as president and co-CEO. S. Douglas Hutcheson, formerly Kymeta\u2019s executive chairman, is now executive chairman and co-CEO.<\/p>\n<p>The new titles took effect on Sept. 1, Kymeta said in a news release. Both executives joined Kymeta in May 2019, during a transitional period that began several months earlier when company founder Nathan Kundtz stepped down from the CEO role.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Kymeta and OneWeb test a u8-based data terminal with OneWeb\u2019s constellation of satellites. (Kymeta Photo) Redmond, Wash.-based Kymeta Corp., the mobile connectivity company backed by Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, has joined forces with OneWeb to test satellite broadband services that make use of Kymeta\u2019s u8 flat-panel antenna system. \u201cI\u2019m very happy to report back that [&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":[4591,252,354,4726,1277,20,4336,442,4329],"class_list":["post-17500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-antennas","tag-broadband","tag-kymeta","tag-metamaterials","tag-oneweb","tag-satellite","tag-satellite-broadband","tag-satellites","tag-startups"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17500"}],"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=17500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17500\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}