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SPACEWAY 3 Information:

SPACEWAY 3 is a Ka-band satellite to be operated by Hughes Network Systems, LLC (Hughes) of the US. This spacecraft will be used to provide a new and exciting range of satellite broadband services to enterprises, government, and consumers throughout North America. Its innovative design includes onboard dynamic multibeam switching to deliver bandwidth on demand and direct site-to-site mesh networking. With SPACEWAY 3, Hughes is entering a new era as a satellite operator, strengthening its global leadership in providing broadband satellite networks and services.

Built by Boeing Satellites Systems, Inc. in El Segundo, California, SPACEWAY 3 has a liftoff mass of approximately 6,075 kg.

Our new SPACEWAY™ platform represents the largest step forward in the history of satellite communications. This new satellite broadband platform will form the basis for the next generation of our HughesNet © service. Hughes will launch SPACEWAY over North America in mid-2007.

What is SPACEWAY?

SPACEWAY is a next-generation satellite system whose unique capabilities will enable high-speed data networking, enable groundbreaking applications, and unlock a wealth of value-added HughesNet services. Operating in globally assigned Ka-band spectrum, SPACEWAY employs high-performance, onboard digital processing, packet switching, and spot-beam technology to offer direct site-to-site connectivity at rates of from 512 Kbps up to 16 Mbps. SPACEWAY combines the traditional advantages of satellite, namely ubiquitous reach and efficient broadcast/multicast, with high data rates and mesh connectivity—to give customers a fast, efficient, flexible and cost-effective communications solution.

SPACEWAY Advanced Technology

Through use of advanced multi-spot-beam antenna and onboard data processing technologies, SPACEWAY satellites are at the vanguard of the most advanced next-generation high-capacity Ka-band satellites. Such capabilities are the foundation for a host of advanced features such as full-mesh with single-hop connectivity between user terminals, service profiles and service measures in support of the emerging applications. Onboard processing also significantly enhances the performance of SPACEWAY by making it a complete end-to-end digital system. Digital systems deliver superior performance because at every point within the network, error correction keeps the signals clear.

SPACEWAY represents the most sophisticated advanced packet transmission infrastructure complete with IP-based user interfaces, satellite terminals, comprehensive network management and service management functionality, all optimized to provide end-to-end broadband access and network connectivity services.

SPACEWAY 3 Details

The Boeing 702 spacecraft represents the next generation in satellite communications technology, with approximately 5 to 8 times the capacity of today's Ku-band satellites. SPACEWAY will enable a full-mesh digital IP network that will interconnect with a wide variety of end-user equipment and systems. This North American broadband satellite system will enable a range of innovative applications, enterprise-wide.

The SPACEWAY satellite features innovative, onboard digital processors, packet switching, and spot beam technology. Spot beam technology will enable the satellite to provide services to small terminals, while onboard routers will enable mesh connectivity. Users of the system will be able to directly communicate with any other user of the system without requiring connection through a central hub.

Boeing Satellite Systems is the world's leading manufacturer of commercial communications satellites and a major provider of space systems, satellites and payloads for national defense, science and environmental applications.

 

SPACEWAY 3 Benefits:

High Speeds, Small Dishes

The high-powered SPACEWAY™ satellite will enable very high speeds in both directions while using compact, cost-efficient terminals. SPACEWAY will provide a variety of service options to meet every need—with upload speeds as high as 16Mbps and downloads as fast as 30Mbps.

True Point-to-Point Connectivity Via Satellite

While spot beams are not new technology, SPACEWAY has taken them to a whole new level and for a whole new purpose. In the past, spot beams were used to reach areas traditionally outside a normal satellite’s “footprint.” For example, a satellite covering North America might have a spot beam covering Hawaii. By contrast, SPACEWAY places 780 downlink beams and 112 uplink beams next to each other for its US coverage. Thus SPACEWAY does away with the traditional CONUS beam and spot beam architecture for an all spot beam architecture. Since we can reuse frequencies in spot beams that are non-adjacent to each other, we gain more usable frequency than is available on current satellites. In fact, one SPACEWAY satellite is equivalent to 8-10 satellites built on current technology. However, to make all those spot beams work as a usable system, another technology was required—the SPACEWAY onboard processor. This processor moves bits from one uplink spot beam to one or more downlink spot beams, showcasing true point-to-point connectivity via satellite. These two technologies working together, along with many other innovations, means the lowest per-bit cost to our customers. SPACEWAY—making satellite communications cost-effective.

Demodulation and Remodulation on the Satellite

In order to convert the satellite signals back into digital signals for transport across the onboard processor, SPACEWAY must demodulate the signal and then remodulate it before sending back down to earth. This remodulation significantly increases the power of the signal, allowing SPACEWAY terminals to be similar in cost to normal VSAT terminals while providing significantly increased performance. SPACEWAY—a model of efficiency.

The Most Flexible Satellite Data Platform Available Anywhere

Having digital connectivity on the spacecraft also allows an unprecedented level of control over type of connection being made. This allows SPACEWAY to have many, varying types of services operating on the spacecraft concurrently. Services include: innovative video conferencing using on-demand, constant rate guaranteed bandwidth, frame relay-like services requiring enterprise grade performance, and DSL-like services requiring low-cost non-guaranteed bandwidth. SPACEWAY—delivering what our customers need.

Quality

The SPACEWAY satellites’ all digital architecture provides the highest levels of quality and performance. SPACEWAY incorporates a host of advanced techniques to mitigate rain fade, allowing the spacecraft to increase power in areas affected by rain and decrease power in areas which are dry and do not need the extra power. The very controls put into the system that allow the SPACEWAY system to offer such varied services also serve another key purpose. Those controls allow the system to guarantee bandwidth for services requiring guaranteed bandwidth. SPACEWAY—the epitome of quality.

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