With small satellites or cubesats, there’s a tendency to think about their activities in Low-Earth Orbits (LEO) and Medium-Earth Orbits (MEO). But SATELLITE 2020’s “Smallsats in GEO” panel showed that new satellite companies are developing constellation systems to operate at Geostationary (GEO) orbit.
Astranis CEO John Gedmark said: “We use the term micro satellite — it’s not just about the mass, but the ability to fit alongside a traditional satellite on a launch stack.” The company is working on a dedicated satellite to bring low-cost internet to Alaska. On cost per bit: “They’re designing satellites to cover an entire continent but filling half of it. When you remove that fill rate piece of the equation, you get the smallest cost per bit.”
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GapSat CEO Gregg Daffner said his company’s model of leasing satellites for operators’ orbital slots for interim periods enables operators to test expansion without huge infrastructure investment. “Satellite operators often miscalculate when they need more capacity. So if they can experiment with a leased satellite [in GEO], and see if they like that, they can decide to own a satellite.”
Saturn Satellite Networks CEO Jim Simpson said smaller satellites can stack together, but primary satellite complications must be managed.
Ovzon’s Sytze Veldman noted small sats enable backup coverage for remote customers. “We’re seeing this in Italy. They’re starting to use [satellite-based] service for the coronavirus.” VS
