The Arcturus satellite is seen moving into a geosynchronous orbit.
Austrani
Satellite Internet service provider Astranis said Friday that its first commercial satellite in orbit, intended to provide coverage to Alaska, has malfunctioned. A backup satellite is planned for spring.
This is the initial push for a unique approach to providing internet service to underserved communities in remote areas. Astranis announced in May that Arcturus was “fully operational” and could begin service to Alaska as soon as mid-June.
The company said the company’s Arcturus satellite is experiencing problems with both of its solar arrays. Astranis CEO John Gedmark told CNBC that the problem “first appeared a few weeks ago.” On Monday, the company identified the root cause, which was a solar array drive assembly that was made by a vendor and not by Austranis.
“Solar array drives are the motors that spin the solar arrays to make sure they’re always pointing toward the sun, and they transmit that power back to the spacecraft. So if they stop responding and spin…you’re not going to get all the power you need,” Gedmark said.
Gedmark said the lack of power from the solar array meant its broadband communications “couldn’t work at full capacity,” but Astranis had identified the problem and knew how to fix it on future satellites.
Additionally, Astranis has “full control” of Arcturus, the company said.
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The company declined to name the vendor that supplied the solar array drives. Gedmark confirmed on Friday that — until the solar array issue — the parts built by Astranis were working. The company had successfully completed initial demonstrations of connectivity to remote locations in Alaska.
Pre-planned backups
The San Francisco-based company, which is taking a An alternative approach to providing Internet access with its own satellites is already being planned to close the gap in coverage for Alaska.
Astranis will launch a previously unannounced “UtilitySat” as part of its batch of four satellites set to fly later this year. Gedmark described it as the “Swiss Army Knife of satellites”.
Unlike Astranis’ commercial satellites, UtilitySat has multiple frequency bands but has a lower capacity – meaning it provides about three gigabits per second of coverage, rather than the nearly nine gigabits per second of commercial satellites.
“We’ve built into our model that we’re going to put spares and backup satellites in many of these orbits that can be used to reduce capacity. [or] for more secondary missions,” Gedmark said.
Astranis expects UtilitySat to begin providing service to Alaska by spring of next year. Gedmark said the company expects a “full replacement” as early as 2025.
In the meantime, Astranis will continue to look at ways to potentially recover Arcturus or use it as a demo platform.
Gedmark suggested the company could use it to test connectivity for “anti-jamming capabilities that we can demonstrate as part of the work we’re doing with our partners in Space Force.”
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Source by [CNBC News]
