[Satellite TODAY 09-07-11] ViaSat has been awarded a group of contracts from Boeing to develop a ground-based, beam-forming system for the Mexican Satellite System (Mexsat), ViaSat announced Sept. 6.

   The total value of the contracts is approximately $40 million. ViaSat will design the beam-forming system to operate with the L-band geomobile satellite system that Boeing is providing for Secretaria de Communicaciones y Transportes in Mexico. ViaSat is currently under a subcontract to supply Boeing with GBBF processors, the control and management system, and the uplink beacon stations, which be deployed in two ground stations in Mexico City and Hermosillo.

   “The system creates hundreds of small, flexible, adaptive ‘spot’ beams on the earth that link small, handheld satellite devices. While the beams are projected on the earth by the satellite, the GBBF system performs the actual beam-shaping signal processing,” ViaSat said in a company statement.