NBN launches first broadband satellite Tuesday, 13 October 2015

News article written by Corbett Communications. The statements made or opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of Engineers Australia.

The first of two planned National Broadband Network (NBN) satellites entered orbit atop an Ariane V rocket from French Guiana in early October, part of NBN’s plan to deliver broadband access to Australians living in rural and remote areas.

Manufacturer Space Systems/Loral (SSL) announced after the launch that the satellite, known as Sky Muster after a national naming contest, was successfully performing its post-launch manoeuvres, and had begun its two-week insertion into geostationary orbit.

The satellite will become commercially operational in mid-2016, according to NBN's satellite program director Matt Dawson.

“Once Sky Muster is in its orbital position above Australia, it will need to undergo several months' tests to make sure it is functioning correctly,” Dawson said. “We will then need to integrate the satellite with the ground stations and commission the spot beams.

“End to end final testing of the system right from the end-user premises, with all of the 10 ground stations, retail service provider systems, our network management systems and the internet, will then take place.”

After testing is complete, SSL will hand over control to Optus, which has signed a five-year agreement with NBN to operate both satellites.

At 6.4 tonne each, Sky Muster and its twin are among the largest commercial satellites ever launched. The satellites use the Ka spectrum band to allow for greater bandwidth, with 101 individual “spot beams” tailored to Australia's widely distributed rural population, according to NBN. The beams will cover the whole of Australia and five offshore locations: the Christmas, Cocos, Lord Howe, Norfolk and Macquarie Islands.

Wholesale internet speeds provided by the system are expected to be significantly faster than those currently available. According to NBN, the two dedicated satellites will deliver up to a combined 135 Gbps of capacity, more than 30 times the capacity of the existing Interim Satellite Service (ISS) instituted by NBN in 2011. Wholesale download speeds will be up to 25Mbps, around five times that which is currently accessible on the ISS.

As part of the Coalition government's multi-technology mix NBN model, satellite services will cover about 3% of Australia's population. NBN CEO Bill Morrow said the satellite would help close the divide between rural and urban Australia.

“The ability to video conference friends and family, study courses online and visit doctors from your lounge room will all be possible in areas which have traditionally struggled to access basic internet services like online banking and shopping,” Morrow said. “Many homes and businesses in regional and rural Australia still rely on dial-up level speeds and have little or no access to a commercial broadband service.”

The limitations of the ISS became readily apparent as demand overwhelmed supply and internet speeds slowed. While the capacity of the new system is much greater, the nature of satellite broadband compared to fixed line technologies will require internet service providers to manage customer download allowances, according to Gavin Williams, NBN executive general manager for new developments, wireless and satellite.

“The biggest difference between the NBN satellite service and our other fixed line broadband services really comes down to our need to manage the finite capacity on the NBN satellite system,” Williams said. “On any of our fixed line broadband technologies, we can install extra capacity relatively easily – but once our satellites have launched, we cannot add any capacity to them. The only way we can get more capacity would be to build and launch another satellite, and that takes about five years.”

A 'fair use' policy will be instituted to ensure a minority of heavy users does not hinder access for the majority of customers, according to Williams.

The possible integration of the satellite service with a dedicated distance education network was also floated in August by the then-parliamentary secretary for communications, Paul Fletcher. A distance education working group was convened in Canberra to bring together education officials and satellite experts from NBN.

At the time, the-then minister for communications Malcolm Turnbull defended the multi-technology mix model, which will see its commercial fibre to the node (FttN) delivered to some 38% of the population. He argued it would come sooner and at a lower cost than Labor's original full fibre to the premises (FttP) concept.

“The corporate plan shows that the multi-technology mix remains the most cost- and time-efficient means of completing the NBN, delivering upgrades six to eight years sooner, and at around $30 billion less cost than an all FttP alternative,” Turnbull said in August in a joint statement with finance minister Mathias Cormann.

In September, NBN officially launched its FttN product, with customers in Newcastle the first to receive service. The company said it is aiming to have 500,000 premises connected with FttN and ready for service by the mid-2016.

Image: Sky Muster was launched atop an Ariane V rocket from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana. Credit: NBN