O3b SC1/PFM

Spacecraft nº:

UK spacecraft nº: 47

Launch data: Designation  39191 / 13031D Launch date  25 June 2013 - 19:27 UT Launch site  Ko, ELS (Sinnamary, French Guiana) Launch vehicle  Soyuz ST-B Fregat-MT (#VS05) Mission  Communications Earth orbit: Perigee / Apogee  8070 x 8076 km Eccentricity   Inclination  0.0 deg Period  287.9 min

Spacecraft data:

Description:

• The O3b satellites of Jersey, Channel Islands based O3b Networks Limited will offer low latency Internet backhaul to emerging markets and developing countries worldwide at speeds up to 10 Gbps with a combined total capacity in excess of 160 Gbps. Thales Alenia Space started design activities under contract in 2007 and has received Authorization To Proceed (ATP) with the construction phase of the project.
• O3b Networks recently announced the new satellite network with support and funding from Google, Inc, Liberty Global, Inc., and HSBC Principal Investments. Bridging the gap between current satellites and fiber optic cables, O3b Networks will provide fiber-like trunking capacity to telecom operators and backhaul directly to 3G Cellular and WiMAX towers. The space vehicle is designed, integrated and tested, by Thales Alenia Space. Leveraging the heritage redundant service module design and manufactured utilizing an innovative island production approach. The unique payload system design enables flexibility of antenna usage and graceful degradation. The first eight space vehicles were planned be in orbit by 4th quarter, 2010, but were delayed to 2013.
• The Ka-Band payload is designed to enable the high speed flow of data between locations on the ground. Twelve fully steerable antennas ensure an optimized connection to the area where data is needed. The payload portion uses existing Ka-Band repeater technology to allow for straightforward allocation of the bandwidth anywhere within the 500 km diameter area on the ground which is illuminated.
• The flexible configuration of the satellite allows for inter-antenna data transfer in a variety of ways. Thus, trunking between two points is simple, or trunking between many points is also possible. The steerable antennas can be moved onto a location in minutes and each provide up to 1.25 Gbps of throughput.

Mission details:

• Delayed from March 2013. Moved forward from May 29. Delayed from May 27.
• The first four O3b satellites were launched just two hours later,on June 2013 by another Soyuz-2-1B, this time with a Fregat-MT upper stage, from the Centre Spatiale Guyanais. This VS05 launch was carried out by Arianespace which imports the Soyuz rocket from TsSKB-Progress.
• The O3b satellites carry Ka-band communications payloads with steerable antennas and will provide broadband internet capacity to the developing world. The O3b company, named after `the other 3 billion' (of people in the world without connectivity) has its headquarters in Jersey (in the Channel Islands) and so I assume the satellites will be registered by the UK. The four satellites, built by Thales Alenia/Roma using a similar design to Globalstar, were deployed into equatorial medium Earth orbit.
• The Soyuz reached an -1167 x 192 km x 5.3 deg orbit; three Fregat burns reached 153 x 227 km x 5 deg, 242 x 7875 km x 3.2 deg, and a 7820 x 7840 km x 0.05 deg orbit. The first two satellites, SC2 and SC4, were deployed at 2128 UTC; a small Fregat spacing burn at 2144 UTC was followed by deployment of SC1 and SC3. The Fregat-MT (serial no. 1041) then made a final set of burns to lower its orbit away from the new constellation, ending up in a 7658 x 7688 km x 0.1 deg orbit.

External links:

• Wikipedia: Satellite Information
• Satellite tracking (n2ya.com): Real time satellite tracking