CesiumAstro submitted an FCC filing for a 737-satellite constellation called Synchronicity to provide reconfigurable connectivity to fixed and mobile satellite users.
CesiumAstro, which is based in Austin, Texas, builds software-defined radios and phased arrays and processor systems, and has moved into end-to-end missions. Last year the company announced its Element reconfigurable satellite platform, but this is the first indication it plans to launch its own constellation.
According to the July 6 FCC filing, the company requests to launch Synchronicity in two tranches, one tranche at 1200 km and the other at 1100 km. It will operate across Ku-, Ka-, and V-band frequencies. Cesium has asked the FCC to grant the license before January 6, 2027.
Synchronicity is designed to provide a “flexible and technically differentiated” fixed satellite service (FSS) system in Non-Geostationary Orbit (NGSO) to support fixed and mobile users across enterprise, government, industrial, mobility, and specialized commercial environments, the company said.
CesiumAstro said one of the core advantages of the constellation will be the company’s vertical integration and reconfigurable processing and phased arrays.
“CesiumAstro designs satellites, phased arrays, processors, waveforms, software, and artificial intelligence traffic optimization tools in-house to allow the communications chain to be engineered as a unified platform that can change waveforms, beam configurations, and frequency schemes to satisfy geography, mission, or customer needs,” the company said in the filing.
The filing also addressed CesiumAstro’s user terminal strategy, that Synchronicity will support both CesiumAstro terminals, and compatible terminals from other vendors to give customers choice and to support a broad ecosystem of equipment manufacturers,integrators, and service providers.
“This approach will allow CesiumAstro to address business-to-business, government, mobility, industrial, and specialized commercial applications without forcing all customers into a single equipment model,” the filing said.
This comes after CesiumAstro raised $270 million in a Series C earlier this year, in addition to $200 million in Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) financing. The company is is building out a new 270,000 square foot campus near Austin, Texas, to consolidate engineering, electronics manufacturing and satellite and critical technology manufacturing.
