Viasat selects Av-Comm Space & Defence for Viasat 3 constellation TT&C Gateway Antenna Project

Viasat has awarded Av-Comm a contract to build and commission multiple 9m Satellite Ground Stations for the Viasat 3 constellation of satellites. The ViaSat-3 constellation consists of three ultra-high-capacity Ka-band satellite operating in geostationary orbit.

The ground stations currently under construction by Av-Comm will be used to provide telemetry, tracking, and control (TT&C) for the constellation over their 20 year+ life.

ViaSat-3 is a constellation of three ultra-high-capacity Ka-band geostationary satellites currently in production. The first and second payloads have already been sent to Boeing Satellite Systems for integration with the 702MP+ bus (spacecraft).

This is a modified version of Boeing’s 702 bus with a good deal more power (greater than 25kW per satellite), and they are expected to make the ViaSat-3 satellites some of the most high-powered ones ever built.

The first satellite is planned to cover the Americas. The second is set to cover Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The third is planned to cover Asia-Pacific. Each ViaSat-3 satellite is expected to have more than 1 Terabit per second (Tbps) of throughput capacity, making them the highest-capacity broadband satellites ever launched.