Gilat’s Wavestream Racks up $20M in LEO Constellation SSPA Orders

The Wavestream Powerstream 160Ka (photo: Gilat)

Gilat Satellite Networks reported April 19 that it’s Wavestream subsidiary received orders of more than $20 million for Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation gateways. Wavestream was chosen as the vendor of choice to supply its PowerStream 160Ka gateway Solid State Power Amplifiers (SSPAs) to an unnamed LEO constellation operator.

While Gilat did not name the operator, the company has been conducting speed tests for technologies that work with Telesat‘s Lightspeed constellation for years. In November 2019, Gilat achieved modem speeds of 1.2 Gbps total throughput over Telesat‘s Phase 1 LEO satellite.

The Wavestream Gateway-Class PowerStream 160Ka SSPAs are designed for networks using wide bandwidth uplinks and high order modulation schemes. The company said the SSPAs are best equipped to meet stringent requirements of Non-Geostationary Satellite Orbit (NGSO) constellations.

“Wavestream’s proven technological advantage, as well as our unmatched production capacity, make us a perfect supplier for the high volume of Ka-band Gateway-class SSPAs required for this constellation,” Bob Huffman, Wavestream general manager said in a statement.