OneWeb Reveals New Briefcase-Sized OW1 Terminal

The Intellian, Collins-built OW1 terminal for OneWeb. (Photo by Intellian)

Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite constellation operator OneWeb unveiled a new user terminal on Tuesday that it developed with partners Intellian Technologies and Collins Aerospace.

The new terminal, OW1, is a low-power, compact, and electronically steered antenna designed to receive OneWeb’s high-speed internet connectivity for global businesses, governments, and communities in both populated and remote locations. The OW1’s physical dimensions are 50 cm by 43 cm, and 10 cm high — “about the size of a briefcase,” OneWeb described in its announcement.

The flat-panel antenna integrates OneWeb’s satellite modem in an environmentally sealed outdoor unit. The unit can be installed using an optional stabilized J-mount and can connect to its indoor component through a single combined power and data cable.

“We are pleased to be able to offer an affordable, compact and easy-to-install user terminal,” OneWeb’s Chief of Deliver, Michele Franci, said in a statement. “It will connect and empower communities and small to medium-sized businesses, opening up applications for a wide variety of purposes, including community Wi-Fi in remote regions; rural retail point-of-sale systems; agricultural Internet of Things functions; and internet service in hotels, health clinics, research stations and more, located in places that the status quo has left unconnected.”

OW1 is Intellian’s first flat-panel antenna. Intellian announced its partnership with OneWeb to build terminals for both the fixed enterprise and maritime markets in 2019. The antennas were originally scheduled to be ready in 2020, but were pushed back due to delays associated with COVID and OneWeb’s bankruptcy restructuring.

In a December 2020 update on the production of the OneWeb terminal, Intellian said the partnership project with OneWeb would also allow its own customers to, “use existing Intellian NX series terminals by incorporating an option to upgrade them to operate on OneWeb’s LEO constellation in the future.”