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OneWeb satellite. Photo: OneWeb
OneWeb has been tapped to lead a consortium of space companies to develop a satellite that can beam hop, switching which part of the world it covers. The group has received about $45 million (32 million pounds) from the
UK Space Agency, through the
European Space Agency’s (ESA) Sunrise Program. A demonstration satellite is set for launch in 2022.
The satellite is nicknamed Joey-Sat, like a kangaroo joey. It will be designed to hop between beams, in order to remotely direct beams of coverage to certain locations to deal with demand.
SatixFy,
Celestia UK, and
Astroscale UK, will work with OneWeb on the project. SatixFy has received most of the funding $35 million (25 million pounds) to develop a user terminal to support the satellite. Satixfy is matching the funds with its own internal investment.
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Credit: OneWeb
A group of UK space tech companies are developing a new beam-hopping satellite that will allow satellites to switch which part of the world they cover, managing real-time surges in commercial demand or responding to emergencies such as natural disasters, thanks to government funding.
Led by global satellite communications network OneWeb, the industrial partners have received over £32 million from the UK Space Agency, via the European Space Agency’s Sunrise Programme, for a demonstration satellite due for launch in 2022.
The satellite, nicknamed ‘Joey-Sat’ for its beam-hopping abilities, will be able to remotely direct beams to boost coverage in certain locations, such as areas of high usage where the network is struggling to cope with demand.
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