Pune-based start-up plans pan-India satellite broadband coverage

SOURCE:  THE HINDU BUSINESS LINE

Pune-based Vestaspace Technology is attempting to launch a constellation of over 35 satellites to build 5G network connections across the country. The company is set to release a beta version of the satellite constellations this September, and the launch of a fully operational constellation of satellites in early 2021. The company is installing eight ground stations and 31,000 data receptors all over India. All the constellations of satellites will be placed into the Leo and Geo orbits.

Arun Kumar Sureban, Founder and CEO, Vestaspace Technology, said: “We are on a mission to make space accessible to everyone who once thought satellites were rocket science. Not only this, through our secured connections a common person can also access to the satellites of their choice and to get immersed in the world of space.”

Regulatory requirements

Sureban told BusinessLine that the company has taken all regulatory and required licences from the government. The services will be offered in Ku and Ka bands. To start with, the company plans to offer bandwidth to existing telecom operators and Internet service providers, but it has taken licence to offer services directly to customers at a later stage, Sureban said.

However, only ISRO has rights to provide satellite coverage over Indian space. It is not clear if Vestaspace Technology has any agreement with the Indian space agency. “We cannot name our partners,” Sureban said, when asked if the company has any deal with ISRO. “We are closely working with various government departments and agencies to ensure we have all the permissions in place ahead of the launch,” he added.

If Vestaspace succeeds, this will be the first-of-its-kind service in India. Similar attempts were made by other companies earlier, including Devas Multimedia, but regulatory hurdles scuttled these projects.

5G connections

The company has an ambitious plan to replace traditional fibre networks with all the satellite constellations and to provide high-speed 5G-network connections pan-India with its unmanned software data processing along with successful launches of orbiting satellites and understanding next-generation satellites data needs.

The solutions will prevent any fraud and illegitimate operations while uploading/downloading data from the satellites, there are 10 layers of security firewall put up, which assess data and possibly take immediate actions if any false data is found.

Initially, at the proprietary system, Vestaspace accomplished good results by pointing out the accurate antenna, tracking, seamless beam and satellite handovers. The outcome reflected in a live-streamed video of 1080p (Full HD) with less than 34 milliseconds latency with the speed of more than 400 Mbps.

Vestaspace Technologies was founded in 2018 and is a space-tech company which builds small satellite platforms for commercial and scientific applications. Recently, the company has secured $10-million funding from US-based Next Capital LLC, an American investment and advisory firm.

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