Space Business Review February 2016

VIASAT UNVEILS NEW CONSTELLATION

On February 9, ViaSat, Inc. (ViaSat) announced plans to develop ViaSat-3, a new global broadband constellation of three Ka-band satellites, each capable of delivering throughput of 1-terabit-per-second, and disclosed to investors that it intends to spend roughly $1.4b over 5 years to provide cost-efficient bandwidth to users in the terrestrial, business, commercial aviation, government mobility, maritime and offshore-energy markets. ViaSat selected The Boeing Company as the prime contractor for the ViaSat-3 class, with two firm orders already in place for satellites that will cover the Americas and Europe, the Middle East and Africa. ViaSat will manufacture the ViaSat-3 class Ka-band payload modules itself. It is expected that Space Exploration Technologies Corporation will launch two of the ViaSat-3 satellites using the Falcon Heavy launch vehicle beginning in 2020, and that Arianespace S.A. will launch the other ViaSat-3 satellite on