{"id":18158,"date":"2019-01-31T23:46:35","date_gmt":"2019-01-31T15:46:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/telesat-makes-deals-with-blue-origin-and-loon-for-its-internet-satellite-network\/"},"modified":"2019-01-31T23:46:35","modified_gmt":"2019-01-31T15:46:35","slug":"telesat-makes-deals-with-blue-origin-and-loon-for-its-internet-satellite-network","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/telesat-makes-deals-with-blue-origin-and-loon-for-its-internet-satellite-network\/","title":{"rendered":"Telesat makes deals with Blue Origin and Loon for its internet satellite network"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_477408\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-477408\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-477408\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/190131-blue-telesat-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Bezos, Goldberg, Smith\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/190131-blue-telesat-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/190131-blue-telesat-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/190131-blue-telesat-1260x709.jpg 1260w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/190131-blue-telesat.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-477408\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith flank Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg, who\u2019s holding a model of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket. (Blue Origin via Twitter)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Canada\u2019s biggest satellite operator, Telesat, has signed agreements with Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture and Alphabet\u2019s Loon&nbsp;aerial telecommunications venture to support its future global broadband satellite constellation.<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin has agreed to provide multiple launches on its yet-to-be-built New Glenn rocket to get Telesat\u2019s spacecraft into low Earth orbit, or LEO. Loon, meanwhile, will furnish a cloud-based data delivery platform that\u2019s based on the system it currently uses to deliver mobile services via a fleet of high-altitude balloons.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s announcements raise Telesat\u2019s profile in a market battle that also involves California-based SpaceX and the international OneWeb consortium.<\/p>\n<p>The goal of all three satellite broadband projects is to provide high-speed internet access to an estimated 4 billion people around the world who are currently underserved. Telesat already operates a 17-satellite telecommunications constellation in geostationary Earth orbit, or GEO, but it\u2019s planning to put hundreds more satellites in LEO for improved response time and widespread service.<\/p>\n<p>Telesat\u2019s first LEO satellite was launched a year ago&nbsp;for orbital testing. The company is expected to offer first-generation data services in the early 2020s.<\/p>\n<p>That time frame meshes with Blue Origin\u2019s development plan for the orbital-class New Glenn rocket, which is currently scheduled to have its first launch from the company\u2019s Florida complex in 2021. (Blue Origin is also currently testing a suborbital spaceship known as New Shepard, which could start carrying people by the end of this year.)<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBlue Origin\u2019s powerful New Glenn rocket is a disruptive force in the launch services market which, in turn, will help Telesat disrupt the economics and performance of global broadband connectivity,\u201d Dan Goldberg, Telesat\u2019s president and CEO, said in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=iJ4fH16SPjs<\/p>\n<p>Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith said he and his teammates were \u201cexcited to be partnering with this industry leader on their disruptive satellite network architecture.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNew Glenn\u2019s 7-meter fairing, with its huge mass and volume capabilities, is a perfect match for Telesat\u2019s constellation plans while reducing launch costs per satellite,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n<p>Nearly two years ago, Blue Origin struck a deal with OneWeb for five launches on the New Glenn, starting in 2021. OneWeb executive chairman Greg Wyler has been quoted as saying that each of those launches could put as many as 80 satellites in low Earth orbit.<\/p>\n<p>OneWeb has launch agreements with several other providers as well, including Virgin Orbit and the European Arianespace consortium. Its first satellite launch had been scheduled to lift off from Arianespace\u2019s complex in French Guiana next month, but a problem with the Russian-made Soyuz rocket has forced a delay.<\/p>\n<p>Both OneWeb and SpaceX are aiming to start offering LEO satellite broadband services in 2020 or so.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX is in the midst of a $500 million funding round to raise money for its Starlink satellite constellation as well as its Starship super-rocket. The company\u2019s facility in Redmond, Wash., is playing the lead role in developing the satellites for Starlink.<\/p>\n<p>SpaceX CEO Elon Musk referred to the challenge surrounding the Starlink and Starship projects on Wednesday during a teleconference that focused on the financial state of his other major venture, Tesla. \u201cSpaceX has two absolutely insane projects that would normally bankrupt a company, Starship and Starlink, and so SpaceX has to be incredibly spartan with expenditures until those programs reach fruition,\u201d Musk told financial analysts.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Is There Space for 12,000 More Satellites Up There?\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/BMoH_zr2y8A?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>Finances would be less of a problem for Blue Origin\u2019s Bezos, who ranks as the world\u2019s richest individual with a net worth currently estimated at $142 billion (compared to&nbsp;Musk\u2019s $21 billion). Financial terms of Telesat\u2019s deal with Blue Origin were not made public.<\/p>\n<p>Today\u2019s other Telesat deal calls for Loon to customize its software-defined data transmission platform for the Canadian company\u2019s LEO constellation. Loon started out as Google\u2019s Project Loon, and was spun off last year as a separate venture alongside Google in the Alphabet holding company\u2019s portfolio.<\/p>\n<p>Loon is due to start offering commercial internet services via its network of high-altitude balloons this year.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBy leveraging our expertise to assist in the development of Telesat\u2019s advanced and innovative LEO constellation, we see another opportunity for Loon to pursue our mission of connecting people everywhere by inventing and integrating audacious technology,\u201d Loon CEO Alastair Westgarth said in a news release. \u201cWith billions of people still lacking Internet access, there\u2019s an urgent need for multiple approaches to solving this problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One thing\u2019s for sure: There are definitely multiple approaches to satellite internet services. We\u2019re not just talking about SpaceX, OneWeb and Telesat: Luxembourg-based LeoSat is aiming to roll out its satellite broadband constellation in the early 2020s as well. Facebook is reportedly working on a laser-based satellite telecommunications system through a shadowy subsidiary called PointView Tech. And even Boeing has plans for a LEO constellation on its back burner.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin CEO Bob Smith flank Telesat CEO Dan Goldberg, who\u2019s holding a model of Blue Origin\u2019s New Glenn rocket. (Blue Origin via Twitter) Canada\u2019s biggest satellite operator, Telesat, has signed agreements with Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos\u2019 Blue Origin space venture and Alphabet\u2019s Loon&nbsp;aerial telecommunications venture to support its [&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":[509,5069,4762,5070,1277,5071,20,316,440,2739],"class_list":["post-18158","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-blue-origin","tag-google-project-loon","tag-internet","tag-loon","tag-oneweb","tag-project-loon","tag-satellite","tag-spacex","tag-starlink","tag-telesat"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18158"}],"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=18158"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18158\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}