By W.L. Pritchard & Co.
Commercial satellite operators plan significant expansion of Ka-band satellite capacity during the next three years, with some 20 satellites under construction. The first steps in this expansion already have begun.
Three commercial satellites with Ka-band capacity have launched in the last part of 2002: Eutelsat’s Hot Bird-6; New Skies Satellites’ NSS-6; and Telesat Canada’s Nimiq-2. There also was a successful launch of experimental FedSat-1 for Australia. Unfortunately, the Astra-1K and Stentor satellites were lost in separate launch failures.
An analysis of the Ka-band marketplace by the Bethesda, Md.-based satellite engineering firm W.L. Pritchard & Co. outlines commercial satellites in orbit in each region of the world. The study also identifies several hundred transponders of capacity planned for launch. Indeed, more than 300 Ka-band transponders are expected in geostationary orbit by the end of 2005.
The report begins with an overview of International Telecommunication Union (ITU) frequency allocations in Ka band in all regions of the world, and the differing frequencies used by government and commercial systems. After a summary of experimental and government systems, it proceeds to detail the commercial satellites in orbit and under construction around the world.
FCC Milestones
In June 2002, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) determined which of the original 13 applicants that had received Ka-band licenses in 1997 met the milestone of signing a non-contingent satellite construction contract. Unless this milestone is met, the license may be null and void. The milestone dates for the second round of applicants for Ka- band licenses were reached in the third quarter of 2002, and milestone compliance is under review. Some of the applicants have returned their licenses to the FCC, some have changed ownership or operating entity, and the FCC has cancelled others. The W.L. Pritchard & Co. report outlines the orbital assignments approved by the FCC and changes in license status. The report also profiles the current status of all U.S. applications.
The approaches taken by system developers range from incorporation of Ka-band spot beams only for the uplink (NSS-6), to hybrid satellites incorporating Ka-band on the uplink and downlink, along with other bands (such as S, C, Ku, and X), to all-Ka-band systems. Of the hybrid satellites, the numbers of Ka-band transponders vary widely. Those with less than 6 Ka-band transponders include Astra 1H, Nimiq-2, Superbirds A, B2 and 6, W3A, SpainSat and EchoStar-9. Satellites with 10 to 32 Ka-band transponders include Ipstar-1, Euroskyway-1, Telstar-8, AMC-15 and Celsat. Of the all Ka-band satellites, SPACEWAY will have 48 transponders, and NETSAT 28 had plans for as many as 1,000 amplifiers.
As another point of contrast, the report shows the substantial number of plans for building and launching geosynchronous satellites. However, plans for non-geosynchronous constellations appear inactive at this time.
The report outlines the over 730 filings with the ITU for geostationary Ka-band satellites. It also lists the non-geostationary filings.
The accompanying map of the Americas is an example of the orbital locations in ITU filings, the countries that have filed (in many cases for the same location), and the U.S. licensees as currently assigned by the FCC. This map is for the orbital arc 140 degreesWest Longitude to 80 degreesWest Longitude.
Ka-band Transponders
The first satellites with commercial Ka-band transponders were launched 10 years ago. More than 40 commercial transponders are now active. However, satellite service providers plan significant expansion of Ka-band capacity in the near future. Operators are following widely differing technical approaches. At the end of 2002, roughly 20 commercial satellites were under contract, from one to four dozen transponders each. These plans will result in some 130 Ka-band transponders for service in North America by the middle of the decade, and significant expansion of capacity in Europe and Asia.
The graph provides information about the commercial Ka-band transponders for Asia, Europe and the Americas. The findings show that in the next two years there will be a dramatic increase for the Americas.
W.L. Pritchard & Co. is a telecom engineering consulting company in Bethesda, Md. It provides assistance in engineering, coordination, regulatory and business plans for communications satellite systems. For further information, contact Ellen Hoff, president, e.hoff@WLPCO.com, or Peter Nuspl, senior engineer, p.nuspl@WLPCO. The company’s web site address is http://www.WLPCO.com; tel: 301-654-1144.
W.L.Pritchard has prepared this write-up as part of a multi-client report.
