As one of the lightest, most compact and high-performing Ku-band antennas developed thus far, SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku has been designed to enable more vessels to enjoy the benefits of faster, flexible and predictable pay-monthly Ku-band VSAT services, the company said.
The new antenna system will be able to roam between Ku-band wide beams and spot beams, providing additional flexibility for service providers to offer global service availability, despite the small antenna size.
While serving the traditional Ku-band wide beam satellites, the new antenna leverages the power of the forthcoming Ku-band high throughput satellite (HTS) constellations using spot beams, such as Intelsat’s EpicNG.
Based on a lightweight carbon fibre composites/aluminium design, SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku is claimed to be easy to handle and can be installed in port without the need for a crane.
Cobham SATCOM’s newest VSAT antenna is based on a software defined SAILOR VSAT technology platform. It offers several key differences to standard VSAT antennas, including the ability to configure dual antenna installations without the need for additional hardware. This can reduce costs significantly for some vessels, where two antennas may be required to ensure a link to the satellite should one be ‘blocked’ by the vessel’s superstructure or nearby structures, such as oil platforms.
SAILOR’s VSAT technology platform also provides diagnostics and automatic event reporting helping service providers to increase reliability.
The latest software features with VSAT Ku, include shock and vibration monitoring, which provides valuable data on the stresses the antenna system is under, helping with planned maintenance and ultimately availability of service.
“The new SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku is enabling service providers to meet the growing demand for high-speed maritime broadband on a wider range of vessel types and size,” said Jens Ewerling, director, maritime broadband, Cobham SATCOM. “Our world-class engineering team has designed a whole new high performance RF package to ensure that the SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku can be deployed anywhere in the world, giving even smaller vessels on rough sees a viable VSAT solution that delivers the performance needed for today’s demanding, data-centric maritime applications and crew communication.”
In addition, Norway’s Telenor Satellite and Cobham have signed an agreement for the supply of SAILOR Ka-band antenna systems to support growth of the new generation high throughput satellite (HTS) service, THOR 7.
Bergen-based Cobham partner Pyxisat will provide delivery, installation and maintenance services to Telenor as part of the agreement.
THOR 7 features up to 25 simultaneously active spot beams providing coverage for high-speed maritime broadband across the North Sea, Red Sea, Baltic Sea, North Atlantic, Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean.