ViaSat reschedules launch of ViaSat-1
January 17, 2011
ViaSat has rescheduled the launch of its high-capacity satellite ViaSat-1 with International Launch Services (ILS) to summer 2011. The delay provides additional time for repair and testing after the satellite was damaged while being moved during the testing process. All costs related to the repair and re-testing of the satellite are being assumed by the manufacturer of ViaSat-1, Space Systems/Loral, a subsidiary of Loral Space & Communications Inc.
ViaSat-1 is designed to be the first “media-enabled” satellite, with the capacity to serve the accelerating growth in bandwidth demand for multimedia Internet access over the next decade. The high capacity Ka-band spot beam satellite has planned coverage over North America. With US capacity estimated at 130 Gbps, ViaSat-1 is expected to be (at launch) the highest capacity satellite in the world.