{"id":57749,"date":"2021-04-09T20:43:35","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T12:43:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/new-leo-constellations-drive-tech-changes-on-the-ground\/"},"modified":"2021-04-09T20:43:35","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T12:43:35","slug":"new-leo-constellations-drive-tech-changes-on-the-ground","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/new-leo-constellations-drive-tech-changes-on-the-ground\/","title":{"rendered":"New LEO Constellations Drive Tech Changes on the Ground"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the most important and disruptive changes that the wave of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations will bring to the satellite business will be on the ground, rather than in orbit, experts said at the LEO Digital Forum on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo light up all the [FCC-approved Non-Geostationary Orbit] satellites \u2026 you will need a lot of gateways on the ground. The amount of gateway infrastructure will be enormous,\u201d Frederik Simoens, CTO of ST Engineering iDirect, said during the LEO Technology Ecosystem panel.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/V0piex2rRkKLbJRV7uYm_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Cover-300x225.jpg\" class=\"attachment-medium size-medium\" alt=\"\" style=\"width: 120px; height: auto;\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/V0piex2rRkKLbJRV7uYm_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Cover-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/V0piex2rRkKLbJRV7uYm_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Cover-800x599.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/V0piex2rRkKLbJRV7uYm_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Cover-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/V0piex2rRkKLbJRV7uYm_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Cover.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"fs-5 mt-0\">Explore the Show Daily 2021 LEO Digital Forum Issue<\/h3>\n<p class=\"mb-0 fs-smaller text-balance\">Check out more from this issue and find your next story to read.<\/p>\n<p>\t\t\t<button class=\"btn btn-primary\" type=\"button\" data-bs-toggle=\"offcanvas\" data-bs-target=\"#offcanvasMENU\" aria-controls=\"offcanvasExample\" aria-label=\"button\" style=\"white-space: nowrap;\"><br \/>\n\t\t\t\tView More <i class=\"bi bi-arrow-right-circle\"><\/i><br \/>\n\t\t\t<\/button><\/p>\n<p>ST Engineering makes gateways \u2014 sophisticated ground stations that communicate with satellites in orbit, connecting them to terrestrial networks. Unlike satellites in the much higher Geostationary Orbit (GEO), which remain fixed at a point in space, Low-Earth Orbit satellites move across the sky and each one requires multiple gateways or hubs on the ground, spread across the globe.<\/p>\n<p>To cope with the exponential growth in LEO expected in the next few years, the entire ground segment needs to be virtualized, Simoens said. Making gateways part of a software-defined network will allow their capability to be applied dynamically, as needed. Capacity can be shifted around the globe with the cycling demand of the work day.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019ll only do limited baseband processing functionality close to the teleport. All the other network functions will move to a more central location, which gives the benefit that all that processing functionality can easily shift from one gateway to another, or from one satellite to another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p><script>var AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a71bd8edbe15;googletag.cmd.push(function(){var AIMAP_29b58f13885ebf8ea6b032f958eb0748 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([992, 100], [[970, 90], [970, 250]]).addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_737ce075cc05dd766c8f8ea08f3faa73 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([768, 100], [728, 90]).addSize([320, 100], [320, 50]).build();var AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3 = googletag.sizeMapping().addSize([1200, 100], [970, 250]).addSize([768, 100], [600, 300]).addSize([320, 100], [300, 250]).build();AIAD_fcd45f981d570e35cee941b23edc69c7_6a71bd8edbe15 = googletag.defineSlot('\/987\/satellitetoday.com\/via-satellite-digital-issue-ads', [ [600, 300], [300, 250], [970, 250] ], 'div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a71bd8edbe16').defineSizeMapping(AIMAP_21fe3bcfb86a8660aba4e721ee9338f3).setCollapseEmptyDiv(true).addService(googletag.pubads());   });<\/script><script>googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1774631144891- 0-6a71bd8edbe16'); });<\/script><\/p>\n<p>This will become more essential as the orbital landscape becomes flexible and dynamic, Simoens added, with beams being moved around or deployed on demand. \u201cBy virtualizing, it will be easy to create those additional resources and to take them back again, when they are no longer needed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There is a lot of room for improvement in the LEO ecosystem on the terminals that receive satellite transmissions, Simoens said, by further integrating antennas and modems.<\/p>\n<p>Lilac Muller, vice president of Product Management for mobile terminal maker Kymeta Corp., said that in order for terminal costs to fall, volumes must rise. She believes volumes are rising, but the issue is complicated by a lack of industry standards.<\/p>\n<p>Muller said that new constellations and hybrid, multi-orbit networks each have their own standards and capabilities. Building terminals to receive from several of them will drive costs up. The alternative is a terminal built to receive only one constellation, the vertically integrated approach. \u201cSpaceX, for example, can drive [down] costs on the terminal side, because they don\u2019t need to support integration with any networks other than their own, so they can trade off,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p>Despite the challenges, the growing demand and accompanying leaps in scale should eventually drive prices down, as long as products are designed to take advantage of mass production manufacturing techniques. \u201cOur technology is second-generation, we\u2019re already working on third generation, we\u2019re working with partners in our ecosystem. Costs will go down over time as volumes come up,\u201d Muller said of Kymeta\u2019s technology.<\/p>\n<p>As the market expands, Stephen Eisele, vice president of Business Development at Virgin Orbit, pointed out that new segments are opening up beyond the traditional buyers in government, military, and oil and gas. This expansion brings to the table a growing number of buyers who are less interested in getting to know and understand the complex space marketplaces for services, hardware, and launch.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey just want the data,\u201d Eisele said of these new entrants, \u201cThey\u2019d like to sign one signature on one contract that provides one solution.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In response, he said, companies like Virgin Orbit will increasingly begin to offer bundling services, and turnkey solutions.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[We are] looking across the value chain in the markets and the different verticals, and trying to figure out \u2014 who do we partner with?\u201d Eisele said. \u201cDo we want  a partnership with a satellite OEM [original equipment manufacturer] to optimize the spacecraft for a vehicle? Do we want to partner with a downstream analytics company that can provide that service to the customer?\u201d <strong>VS<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>,<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"widget-title\">In This Issue<\/h2>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 511:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/oNppcUwVRViEOQNYolMt_sY9ELtmITWOPU1EiDVZC_Mobile_Market-800x450-1-300x169.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/oNppcUwVRViEOQNYolMt_sY9ELtmITWOPU1EiDVZC_Mobile_Market-800x450-1-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/oNppcUwVRViEOQNYolMt_sY9ELtmITWOPU1EiDVZC_Mobile_Market-800x450-1-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/oNppcUwVRViEOQNYolMt_sY9ELtmITWOPU1EiDVZC_Mobile_Market-800x450-1-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/oNppcUwVRViEOQNYolMt_sY9ELtmITWOPU1EiDVZC_Mobile_Market-800x450-1.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tAir Canada is Banking on LEO Technology, Exec Says<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 512:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"225\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/6pepIxOIRKOjKQctm3mT_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Image_2-300x225.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/6pepIxOIRKOjKQctm3mT_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Image_2-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/6pepIxOIRKOjKQctm3mT_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Image_2-800x599.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/6pepIxOIRKOjKQctm3mT_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Image_2-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/6pepIxOIRKOjKQctm3mT_LEO20Digital20Show20Daily20Image_2.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tGwynne Shotwell, Northrop Grumman\u2019s MEV-1 Win Satellite Executive and Technology Awards for 2020<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 510:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"167\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/VcltRXMLRducucMYnXIh_Screen20Shot202021-04-0820at203.54.1720PM-300x167.png\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/VcltRXMLRducucMYnXIh_Screen20Shot202021-04-0820at203.54.1720PM-300x167.png 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/VcltRXMLRducucMYnXIh_Screen20Shot202021-04-0820at203.54.1720PM-800x445.png 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/VcltRXMLRducucMYnXIh_Screen20Shot202021-04-0820at203.54.1720PM-640x356.png 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/VcltRXMLRducucMYnXIh_Screen20Shot202021-04-0820at203.54.1720PM.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tHow Space is Moving Toward a Democratized Future<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 508:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"170\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/nbczYNHxRruDyIeaIbid_Screen-Shot-2021-04-07-at-12.54.53-PM-300x170.png\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/nbczYNHxRruDyIeaIbid_Screen-Shot-2021-04-07-at-12.54.53-PM-300x170.png 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/nbczYNHxRruDyIeaIbid_Screen-Shot-2021-04-07-at-12.54.53-PM-800x453.png 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/nbczYNHxRruDyIeaIbid_Screen-Shot-2021-04-07-at-12.54.53-PM-640x362.png 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/nbczYNHxRruDyIeaIbid_Screen-Shot-2021-04-07-at-12.54.53-PM.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tOneWeb CEO Neil Masterson Talks Telcos and Terminals<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 506:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/M3mP8eV3RSGjkNRlmXUy_Screen-Shot-2021-04-06-at-10.49.36-AM-300x169.png\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/M3mP8eV3RSGjkNRlmXUy_Screen-Shot-2021-04-06-at-10.49.36-AM-300x169.png 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/M3mP8eV3RSGjkNRlmXUy_Screen-Shot-2021-04-06-at-10.49.36-AM-800x450.png 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/M3mP8eV3RSGjkNRlmXUy_Screen-Shot-2021-04-06-at-10.49.36-AM-640x360.png 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/M3mP8eV3RSGjkNRlmXUy_Screen-Shot-2021-04-06-at-10.49.36-AM.png 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tOperators Spar Over Satellite Broadband Market Size<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n<hr class=\"my-3 d-block d-md-none\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<!-- post id 509:  \/code\/wp-content\/themes\/ai-beehive\/template-parts\/content\/post-snippet.php --><\/p>\n<figure class=\"overflow-hidden w-100 me-3\">\n<p>\t<img width=\"300\" height=\"169\" src=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/k3ZoFS1fRZOPQb9e1xPl_Starlink-300x169.jpg\" class=\"img-responsive wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" style=\"\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/k3ZoFS1fRZOPQb9e1xPl_Starlink-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/k3ZoFS1fRZOPQb9e1xPl_Starlink-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/k3ZoFS1fRZOPQb9e1xPl_Starlink-640x360.jpg 640w, https:\/\/www.satellitetoday.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/k3ZoFS1fRZOPQb9e1xPl_Starlink.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\">\t\t\t\t\t<\/figure>\n<h3 class=\"fs-4 w-100 line-clamp-3\">\n<p>\t\t\t\tSpaceX\u2019s Shotwell Says Starlink Will Reach Every Rural U.S. Household in 5 Years<br \/>\n\t\t<\/h3>\n<p><!-- .post-snippet --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some of the most important and disruptive changes that the wave of Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations will bring to the satellite business will be on the ground, rather than in orbit, experts said at the LEO Digital Forum on Wednesday. \u201cTo light up all the [FCC-approved Non-Geostationary Orbit] satellites \u2026 you will need a lot [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":57750,"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":[],"class_list":["post-57749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57749"}],"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=57749"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57749\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57750"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}