Avanti Communications, a UK based broadband Satellite operator, has secured £73.8 million in funding for the design, construction and launch of the firms next HYLAS 3 spacecraft. The money comes from a conditional placing of 26,785,714 Ordinary Shares with new and existing institutional investors.

Avanti's first Ka-band based broadband satellite, HYLAS 1 (33.5º West), was launched in November 2010 (original news) and is currently delivering internet speeds of up to 10Mbps into rural parts of the UK and Europe. The company still expects to sell-out of capacity on HYLAS 1 within three years of service launch.

The firms next spacecraft, HYLAS 2, is currently expected to launch within a one month window from 30th June 2012 via a Arianespace rocket. Unlike their first satellite, HYLAS 2 will focus its coverage on the Middle East and Africa, while HYLAS 3 is expected to do the same through "overlapping geographic coverage".

It's understood that the European Space Agency (ESA), after winner a competitive tendering process, will eventually carry HYLAS 3 into orbit around the Earth. Final contractual terms with ESA are expected to be agreed and contracts signed in March 2012, although HYLAS 3 isn't expected to launch until 2015 (i.e. the final year of HYLAS 2's approach to full utilisation).


HYLAS 3, unlike the bulkier HYLAS 2, will have up to 4GHz of Ka band capacity, which is to be configured across eight beams within a single steerable antenna that can provide coverage of an area equivalent to a region the size of Southern Africa. This sounds very similar to their original HYLAS 1 design.

At this stage it's worth nothing that Avanti has no plans to go beyond HYLAS 3, which is a shame as a second Satellite over Europe would give the service some additional redundancy in case of failure. On the other hand much of Europe is already deploying enhanced fixed line ISP connectivity, which suggests that a second EU Satellite might not be needed. Avanti also faces stiff competition in Europe from SES ASTRA and Eutelsat, which have managed to undercut some of its consumer services.