Can Jupiter-3 connect the unconnected?

Hughes has long been one of the pillars of the Western satellite communications market and continues to hold a huge presence in the industry. With their Jupiter-3 offering on the horizon, we spoke to Kartik Seshadri, Vice President, International Division about how far the space industry has come, and what part Hughes has played in it, as well as how their work can help further connect the world.

Laurence Russell, Associate Editor, Satellite Evolution Group

Question: The satcom industry has come a long way in the relatively short span of time it’s been around. What has it taken to establish a foundation for Earth to build an economy based on spaceborne technologies?

Kartik Seshadri: It’s hard to believe it’s only been forty years since the advent of the internet! And yes, the satellite industry has come lightyears in that time, but we have to remember that nearly a third of the global population is still not online. Economy aside, we still have work to do as an industry, with regards to standardization and capital investments –especially because satellite is the ideal transport to help connect the unconnected.

As for building an economy for spaceborne technologies, we’re proud of the role Hughes has played in setting that foundation. First, it took an audacious vision and goal: which was to connect an enterprise network via satellite. That communications network, which Hughes engineers devised for Walmart in the 1980s, was the first to use VSAT technology across an enterprise.

Kartik Seshadri, Vice President, International Division, Hughes

The next quantum step was the innovation Hughes developed to build a low-cost modem to deliver satellite direct to the consumer for internet access – initially with dial up return and then both directions via satellite. Hughes then followed that up to better monetize the business via satellite ownership economics, with the innovative launch of services on the SPACEWAY satellite.

Contrast that now to the Hughes JUPITER™ system and satellites, which have grown more powerful and capable with each successive generation. Our JUPITER System Series 3, which is available today, is our highest performing ground system yet, capable of delivering 400 Mbps down, supporting cloud network management and enabling 5G cellular backhaul. At Hughes, we talk about a virtuous cycle of innovation driven by our effort to meet our customers’ changing and growing needs – and I think that’s essential to developing a sustainable business and industry economy. Besides making bold bets it took (and still takes) an enduring commitment to innovation and continually raising the bar.

Similar developments and innovations by new entrants in the launch space, causing a reduction in launch price, have now jolted the satellite industry. A slew of new companies now are angling to address additional market segments with solutions that would not have been economically viable before.

WiFi Hotspot.

Photo courtesy Hughes

At this stage, we’re entering an era of providing satellite solutions spread across satellites in different orbits and terrestrial network convergence. Viability is going to depend on three things: access to various transports (because no one type of connectivity can meet all the demand); smart, enabling technologies (such as multipurpose electronically steerable antennas, highly adaptable modems etc.); and the ability to integrate them all together into solutions. That’s how we’ll realize the vision of the connected future.

Question: Rural connectivity is often cited as the primary driver of growth for satellite internet, although there also exists considerable demand for connecting consumer handheld devices for metropolitan people on the move, and IoT connections for machines around the world. What’s the potential of this market, and what’s standing in the way of its realization?

Kartik Seshadri: The potential for the direct-to-device opportunity is significant. Of course, satellite has been instrumental in improving rural and mobile coverage for handheld devices by providing cellular backhaul so mobile network operators can expand their coverage areas – 2G, 3G, 4G – or by creating satellite-powered Community WiFi hotspots in remote communities. (As well as connectivity to planes, ships and vehicles.)

Clearly, given the insatiable demand for connectivity, the next frontier is providing service for devices outside the range of cellular networks – some analysts place the size of that market at about $67 billion. The inclusion of satellite standards in the 3GPP NTN Release 17 was a significant step forward in enabling the industry to realize this opportunity.

Today, Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) spectrum is available for use to meet this demand. In addition, with the arrival of the 3GPP NTN standard, equipment and chipsets are beginning to be designed and manufactured to enable services in this spectrum. Nothing is standing the way – which is why we are moving ahead with the first stage of realizing our S-band capabilities with the 28satellite constellation we announced in January.

Our next-stage S-band constellation will support wideband services including voice, full messaging, and email capabilities just as people are used to on their smartphones today. That’s the ultimate end-goal for our entire industry (and others coming into it): ubiquitous connectivity that’s transport-agnostic.

Jupiter 3.

Photo courtesy Hughes

Question: Experts have identified the quickly developing regions of the global south as the primary hotspots for the expansion of the satellite broadband market, where connectivity needs to be fast, but internet infrastructure rollout is too slow to keep up with rapidly accelerating demand. Will this be where the satcom industry scales the model of LEO broadband, and breaks the back of the digital divide?

Kartik Seshadri: LEO certainly opens up new connectivity options for parts of the developing world, as it provides coverage in areas not sufficiently served by wireline, and those places outside the reach of a GEO beam. It’s not likely, though, that any single technology or solution will create an immediate “back breaking” solution for the digital divide for several reasons. The need is too large, and any solution has to be sustainable for the long term.

Most importantly, solutions must be affordable for the populations they serve. In much of the developing world, service costs for individual households are prohibitively high. That doesn’t change with LEO, which is currently more expensive than GEO satellite service – especially given the high cost of the necessary antennas when compared to the very low-cost VSAT.

Shared cost models like Community Wi-Fi hotspots will help make LEO connectivity more affordable, but it won’t likely be the panacea to connectivity in the developing world. In fact, no single transport or service will be able to support the growing demand for connectivity. We need every type, every provider to be able to meet the connectivity needs of people, enterprises and things. And even that won’t be enough: in addition to the transports, we need the enabling technologies and service integration to transform the connections into solutions that meet specific criteria for cost, performance, and availability.

OneWeb Svalbard.

Photo courtesy Hughes

Question: Some commentators warn that LEO satellites can be the predominant threat in the fight against space debris due to the heavy propagation of constellations and a mixed history of effective orbit pathing and decommissioning solutions. How do we make the most of the full life cycle of LEO satellites to ensure they serve a sustainable market from production to end-of-life?

Kartik Seshadri: Space is a resource that we need to protect. At EchoStar and Hughes, we comply with all regulations and industry best practices when it comes to satellite launches and end-of-life procedures. We believe that there need to be rules in place to ensure space sustainability and we actively work with governments around the world to achieve this goal.

Question: We’ve seen a few more players move into MEO recently, urging that the middle elevation can offer the best-of-both-worlds provision between the binaries of LEO and GEO. What do you think is the future of MEO?

Kartik Seshadri: Every orbit – and indeed, every type of transport – has its relative advantages. MEO offers some similar benefits as LEO, with lower latency than GEO along with less investment for global coverage. It also shares some advantages of GEO, including greater bandwidth density. MEO also has its own unique attributes – it doesn’t require handoffs as frequently as LEO which can be useful for reliability and resiliency. The ideal and future ecosystem will need to take advantage of each type in order to meet the demand for connectivity.

Question: Last year Konstantin Vorontsov, a member of the Russian Foreign Ministry described commercial satellites as “legitimate targets” in their wartime military objectives at the UN Open-Ended Working Group (OEWG). To what extent do you recognize satellites as assets in war through their cyber and logistical value?

Kartik Seshadri: In every aspect of life today, connectivity is an essential asset. As a provider to the US Department of Defense (DoD), our focus is on delivering secure communications, anytime and anywhere. One example is a LEO implementation at the Thule Air Base near Greenland, where Hughes is providing satellite connectivity for the first time in the region.

The installation, which uses OneWeb LEO capacity, meets the need for connectivity to support scientific experiments as well as morale, welfare and recreation for the people living there. Another example of a DoD implementation our team is leading is a standalone private 5G network at the Whidbey Island Naval Air Base in Washington State. While the objective is to enable 5G capabilities to support on-base activity, the deployment includes both GEO and LEO connectivity for global communications and resiliency. Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency (PACE) planning is essential for the DoD, with multiple transport paths and enabling technologies essential to realize every contingency.

Question: Given the meteoric rise of the NewSpace market, and the doubts raised over true interstellar colonization efforts, how do you see the economics of space evolving in our future?

Kartik Seshadri: Space exploration and colonization are exciting endeavors that fascinate many of us in this industry. At EchoStar and Hughes, we are focused on realizing our vision for a connected future using spacebased and terrestrial connectivity. We have enough of a challenge on Earth, which Hughes is continuing to address with innovative satellite and terrestrial based solutions.

Right now, that means working to prepare our next geostationary satellite, JUPITER 3, for launch so we can connect more people across North and South America and help bridge the digital divide. We’ll leave interstellar colonization to those better qualified to lead the charge and once all humans have the connectivity they need, we can look forward to bringing our JUPITER System technology to the Martians!