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O3b satellite launch is postponed Lift-off for O3b satellite network
(about 11 hours later)
Adverse weather has delayed the launch of an innovative new space network. The O3b company has finally got its first four satellites in orbit.
A Soyuz rocket was due to put four satellites in orbit for the O3b company, to provide communications to parts of the world that have poor fibre-optic infrastructure. They were launched on a Soyuz rocket from French Guiana after a day's delay due to unfavourable winds at the Sinnamary spaceport.
But unfavourable winds at the Sinnamary spaceport in French Guiana have forced a 24-hour delay. The satellites' deployment marks the first phase in O3b's construction of a novel telecommunications network.
O3b says the aim of its new network is to change the broadband experience for millions of people. It plans to put a constellation in the sky to handle voice and data traffic for mobile phone, internet and other service providers.
Its first four satellites will be followed by a further four in September, and then another quartet next year. O3b is targeting parts of the world that currently have poor fibre-optic infrastructure.
They will handle primarily voice and data traffic for mobile phone operators and internet service providers. The spacecraft will pick up this traffic as they pass overhead and then relay it to ground stations, or teleports, for onward connection to global networks. With backing from blue chip companies such as Google, it believes its network can change the broadband experience for millions of people.
Although other satellites routinely do this, O3b is taking a markedly different approach. The Soyuz carrying the four satellites lifted clear of the Sinnamary launch gantry at 16:27 local time (19:27 GMT). It took more than two hours and several burns from the rocket's Fregat upper-stage to get the spacecraft into their correct 8,000km-high orbit.
By flying in a Medium-Earth Orbit of 8,000km, the satellites will be a quarter of the distance from Earth than is the case with traditional geostationary (GEO) telecommunications spacecraft, which sit some 36,000km above the planet. Confirmation of separation from the Fregat and a successful mission came shortly before 22:00 GMT.
Grander plan
The altitude is a critical part of the O3b design.
By flying in this "medium-Earth orbit", the satellites will be a quarter of the distance from Earth than is the case with traditional geostationary (GEO) telecommunications spacecraft, which sit some 36,000km above the planet.
This should reduce substantially the delay, or latency, of the signal as the voice or data traffic is routed via space.This should reduce substantially the delay, or latency, of the signal as the voice or data traffic is routed via space.
"The network was designed to avoid much of the difficulty that satellite connectivity provides today which is this delay," said O3b CEO Steve Collar. For standard satellites, the latency can be 600 milliseconds or more. O3b is promising its customers a round-trip transmission time of a little more than 100 milliseconds.
"We've all been on a satellite call and you have that 600 milliseconds delay, which doesn't sound like much but it's enough to make that connection almost unusable. It's just as much of a problem on data networks. If you are on the internet and are searching for a site, it affects your behaviour if you get slow responses. You'll stop using the service. We wanted to fix those problems and the only way to fix them is to bring the satellites closer to Earth." The satellites will operate in the high-frequency Ka-band and have the capability to deliver 10 beams, at 1.2Gbps per beam, to each of O3b's seven operational regions. These are spread around the equator and reach latitudes of about 45 degrees North and South.
O3b is promising round-trip transmission time of a little more than 100 milliseconds.
The satellites will operate in the high-frequency Ka-band and have the capability to deliver 10 beams, at 1.2Gbps per beam, to each of O3b's seven operational regions.
The company expects to start services at the end of the year, once it gets eight spacecraft in orbit, but the intention is to put up perhaps as many as 20 eventually.The company expects to start services at the end of the year, once it gets eight spacecraft in orbit, but the intention is to put up perhaps as many as 20 eventually.
It has taken about six years to put the O3b project together. Important backers include not only Google but SES, one of the big players in the traditional satellite communications business. "The architecture is very scalable," CEO Steve Collar told BBC News. "We can keep launching satellites into that same arc and building the capacity we can deliver to our customers - and driving down the cost, importantly.
O3b was born from founder Greg Wyler's frustration with the difficulty of connecting a modern teleco in Rwanda to the global fibre optic network, and the constraints that placed on performance. "With all telecommunications, customers want more and more data for the same amount of money, and we have to continually drive those cost benefits into our network."
The first place to benefit from the new system will be the Cook Islands in the Pacific. It has no connection to the global fibre-optic network.
Constellation connection
It has taken about six years to put the O3b project together. Key backers include not only Google but SES, one of the big players in the traditional satellite communications business.
O3b was born from founder Greg Wyler's frustration with the difficulty of connecting a modern teleco in Rwanda to the global fibre-optic network, and the constraints that placed on performance.
O3b actually stands for "other three billion" - the number of people whose poor communications experience is expected to improve over the coming decade. O3b sees itself as an important agent of that change.O3b actually stands for "other three billion" - the number of people whose poor communications experience is expected to improve over the coming decade. O3b sees itself as an important agent of that change.
"There are two billion people in the world that are connected to the internet today; there are five billion who are not; and three billion who will be in the course of the next 10-15 years," said Mr Collar. "The other three billion is our target - that's who we're trying to reach, and that's where our name comes from."
The Jersey, Channel Islands-based outfit has raised more than $1bn to build its space and ground infrastructure.The Jersey, Channel Islands-based outfit has raised more than $1bn to build its space and ground infrastructure.
O3b's largest debt facility, over $0.5bn, is provided by HSBC, ING, CA-CIB and Dexia, and is underwritten by the French export credit agency, Coface. The agency is supporting three new space constellations, all of them built by Thales Alenia Space. O3b's largest debt facility, over $0.5bn, is provided by HSBC, ING, CA-CIB and Dexia, and is underwritten by the French export credit agency, Coface. The agency has been extremely active in supporting the new space constellations involving Thales Alenia Space (TAS), one of Europe's major satellite manufacturers.
The 700kg spacecraft that TAS is building for O3b are based on the 24 spacecraft it has just finished for the Globalstar satellite phone network. TAS has all but finished the second batch of four spacecraft for O3b, and has started work on units 9-12 which it hopes to deliver early next year.
One of the challenges of running the system is tracking platforms as they move across the sky. "We also have responsibility for LEOP (Launch and early orbit phase) activities," Philippe Nabet, the TAS programme manager on the O3b project, told BBC News prior to Tuesday's lift-off.
"The constellation will be spread equally around the equator which means you have to pick the satellite up as it comes over the horizon and follow it to the other side; and as soon as it goes out of visibility there is already another satellite waiting to be picked up," explained Philippe Nabet, the TAS programme manager on the O3b project. "We will make sure that the satellites have the correct spacing. This is done at our control centre in Cannes. We also do the in-orbit testing of the platform and its payload. We should hand the satellites over to O3b in roughly one month."
"There will be three antennas at the ground stations - two to track the satellites; the third is a spare."
Tuesday's attempt at a launch will take place at 15:54 local time (18:54 GMT)
Jonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmosJonathan.Amos-INTERNET@bbc.co.uk and follow me on Twitter: @BBCAmos