TAMPA, Fla. — Astranis said Jan. 10 that all four of its recently launched broadband satellites have passed early tests and begun using electric propulsion to reach geostationary orbit in the coming months.
The satellites launched on a Falcon 9 rocket Dec. 29 and feature multiple upgrades over Arcturus, the San Francisco-based manufacturer’s debut spacecraft, which malfunctioned during final testing after reaching orbital position in May 2023.
The failure of both solar array drive assemblies on Arcturus, used to position solar panels that power the satellite, meant it could not fulfill its original mission to provide continuous broadband over Alaska for local telco Pacific Dataport.
Astranis said initial tests for its latest four in-house-built satellites, collectively called Block 2, included placing them in a sun-pointing mode to maximize power generation.
“We’ve spent a week and a half checking out and testing every subsystem on the spacecraft and everything looks fantastic,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark said via email.
“We are now through initial commissioning, with all systems operating nominally, and we’ve kicked off electric orbit raise. Many potential mission risks are now behind us, and all four satellites came out the other side in great shape.”
Astranis said it also tested new software-defined radios on each Block 2 spacecraft, a gimbal set to extend operational life from seven to at least eight years, and a reflector designed to provide 12 gigabits per second of Ka-band throughput that successfully deployed.
The company, which is operating the spacecraft on behalf of customers that have leased their broadband capacity, expects to bring Block 2 services online by the middle of this year.
Two of the satellites, NuView Alpha and NuView Bravo, are intended to provide coverage across the Americas for inflight connectivity provider Anuvu.
Agila is designed to deliver broadband services across the Philippines for local internet service provider HTechCorp. Meanwhile, the multi-mission spacecraft UtilitySat will initially cover Mexico for Apco Networks, a Mexican telecommunications company that has also ordered two of the five Block 3 satellites Astranis plans to launch together this year on an undisclosed rocket.
The Block 3 series would include a replacement satellite for Pacific Dataport, another spacecraft for Orbits Corp, and a satellite for Thai fleet operator Thaicom.
Each 400-kilogram satellite, roughly the size of a dishwasher, is scaled for smaller regional coverage, compared with traditional GEO satellites that are typically the size of a school bus.