Washington-based LeoSat Enterprises is launching a unique new data network comprised of a constellation of up to 108 low-earth-orbit communications satellites to provide an MPLS network in space. The company says the optical backbone in space will be 1.5 times faster than terrestrial fibre, will have extremely-low latency and will be an ultra-secure network.
“Getting approval from the US Federal Communications Commission – among the world’s most sophisticated radio frequency regulators – is an important milestone for LeoSat and recognises that we have a unique solution for high-speed and ultra-secure enterprise connectivity,” said Mark Rigolle, CEO of LeoSat
“I am delighted by this significant step forward for LeoSat as we continue to make excellent progress on our journey to deliver the world’s first business backbone in space, opening-up new markets for data networking, telecoms, enterprise and government communications across the globe.”
The increasing demand for business connectivity and with it, the need to move large quantities of data quickly and securely around the world, is fast outpacing the infrastructure in place to carry it. Existing networks are already carrying more than 1ZB of traffic globally and this is set to grow exponentially.
The FCC market access grant will allow LeoSat to address currently unmet demand for high-bandwidth, low-latency, high-security data transmissions from large commercial and government customers in the United States.
LeoSat’s data network will enable new opportunities for sectors such as enterprise-to-enterprise communications, telecommunications, oil & gas operations and maritime services, delivering premise-to-premise high-speed data (greater than 1Gbps) with unmatched security to any location in the world.
Moreover, whilst LeoSat's core focus is solving essential business communications challenges, the unique design of LeoSat’s constellation means capacity will also be available to enable a new level of connectivity services for internet and cellular backhaul for remote and underserved communities.
The LeoSat System offers numerous advantages with respect to high throughput, low latency, and full global coverage. It will use optical inter-satellite links and on-board processing and operating in polar orbits at an altitude five times closer to the Earth than medium earth orbit satellites and 25 times closer than geostationary orbit (GSO) satellites.
These advantages, in turn, will allow LeoSat to provide enterprise-grade, highly secure data transmissions with up to 1.2Gbps of full-duplex connectivity per link (and 5.2Gbps where needed), along with low latency of less than 20ms. The high-throughput satellites (HTS) will form a mesh network interconnected through inter-satellite laser links, creating an optical backbone that is approximately 1.5 times faster than terrestrial fibre networks.
Earlier this year, Spanish satellite operator Hispasat announced it had agreed to invest in LeoSat Enterprises and LeoSat Enterprises signed a strategic agreement with Phasor to provide enterprise network markets with ultra-high throughput, low-latency network infrastructure.
The launch of the constellation, which will combine the speed of fibre with the reach of satellite, is expected in 2020.
