It is not a product, at least not quite yet. But Hughes is showing off a cool new flat-panel antenna* that will soon be used for enterprise connections to the OneWeb low earth orbit satellite constellation. The company aims to be producing the electronically steered phased array solution for OneWeb services by early 2023.
Combining our decades of experience working on Low Earth Orbit systems with our intimate understanding of the OneWeb system, our engineers created an entirely new design that delivers high performance that will change the paradigm for LEO service implementations worldwide.
– Adrian Morris, Executive Vice President, Engineering, Hughes
“We are proud of our longstanding and mutually supportive partnership with Hughes,” said Neil Masterson, CEO, OneWeb. “This new antenna is the latest example of Hughes’ engineering expertise and its commitment to working in close collaboration with OneWeb to enhance our service offering for enterprise and mobility customers. OneWeb continues to accelerate our momentum in reaching a wide range of markets and customers, and in the strategic development of ground technology that will be vital in scaling up to global coverage.”
The phased array antenna is low-profile and contains no moving parts, making it ideal for both fixed and mobile connectivity. The demo mock-up was small enough and light enough to travel to the Satellite Show 20022 event on the DC Metro, a strong endorsement of its portability. It also is not a working model, so still some potential for things to change a bit.
In testing at Hughes’s Gaithersburg, MD labs it was able to consistently deliver speeds of 190 Mbps download and 20 Mbps upload while switching beams every 11 seconds and switching satellites every three minutes. Average round trip latency hovered around 55ms.
Getting it into service for enterprise customers is the first step, but mobility is a key consideration, and this model also forms the basis for what Hughes expects to deliver on that front for OneWeb. Hughes previously announced a small equity stake in OneWeb as part of the company’s recapitalization in early 2021. Hughes also provides much of the technology for the OneWeb ground station infrastructure.
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*That’s not actually what it is called, but since it doesn’t have a real product name yet they can’t stop me.
More news from SATShow 2022
- OneWeb secures launch plan with SpaceX, capacity deal with Speedcast
- Is Starlink finally ready for commercial flight?
- Hughes shows off flat panel antenna for OneWeb service
- Two more ESAs prepare for flight
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