{"id":36996,"date":"2024-01-29T16:50:07","date_gmt":"2024-01-29T16:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/?p=36996"},"modified":"2024-01-29T16:50:07","modified_gmt":"2024-01-29T16:50:07","slug":"ofcom-look-to-approve-beetlesats-leo-broadband-satellites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ispreview.co.uk\/index.php\/2024\/01\/ofcom-look-to-approve-beetlesats-leo-broadband-satellites.html","title":{"rendered":"Ofcom Look to Approve BeetleSat’s LEO Broadband Satellites"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UK telecoms regulator, Ofcom<\/a>, has proposed to grant an Earth Station Network Licence (ESNL) to NSLComm in support of its plans to launch a new global constellation of 264 satellites in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), which could be used to provide broadband to mobile sites (backhaul), as well as military, aviation, maritime and enterprises.<\/p>\n

The new BeetleSat<\/strong><\/a> constellation is said to be based upon a new type of Ka-band<\/strong> deployable antennas, as developed by NSL Comm based in Israel (the company also has European HQ’s in the UK and Spain). The goal is to launch 264 satellites to an altitude of 720km<\/strong>, sitting along 12 orbital planes (each comprising 22 satellites).<\/p>\n

Each spacecraft is designed to handle data capacity of up to 8Gbps<\/strong> (Gigabits per second), with the network delivering a total capacity of 2Tbps<\/strong> (Terabits per second) once fully deployed. The first test satellite<\/a> was launched a year ago via a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and, under the current plan, the initial batch of satellites for the operational system will be launched during the “second half of 2026<\/em>“.<\/p>\n

However, in order for the network to become operational in the UK, Ofcom<\/a> must first grant an ESNL. This would allow the new operator to deploy user terminals \u2013 the dishes and antennas used by customers to connect to a satellite<\/a> network. These can be situated on a building, in the air or at sea.<\/p>\n

NSLComm has applied to use the frequencies 27.5 \u2013 27.8185 GHz, 28.4545 \u2013 28.8265 GHz and 29.5 \u2013 30 GHz. At the time of writing, four satellite operators already hold NGSO network licences, including competing networks related to Starlink<\/a> (SpaceX), OneWeb<\/a> (Eutelsat<\/a>), Telesat and a company that we’re not immediately familiar with – Mangata Edge Ltd.<\/p>\n

Ofcom’s preliminary view is that “the Beetlesat constellation should be able to coexist with operators of existing systems without causing undue degradation. However, we encourage all parties to continue cooperating in good faith between now and the launch of the BeetleSat constellation<\/em>.” The consultation<\/a> on their proposed licence approval is set to run until 29th February 2024.<\/p>\n