Gapsat acquires QBX
January 17, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Satellite solutions business QBX, which is based on the Isle of Man, has been acquired by GapSat Development Group which specialises in providing satellite capacity on an interim basis and acts as a clearing house for operators with satellites able to be moved to other orbital locations.
QBX holds a portfolio of satellite radio frequency spectrum and intellectual property. GapSat has acquired 100 per cent of QBX but financial terms were not disclosed.
GapSat says that satellite spectrum and associated geostationary orbit slots are a finite resource and increasingly regarded as key strategic assets for the telecom and data communications industry, in the same way as patents are for emerging high technology industries. And with wireless and mobile broadband playing an essential role in bringing high-speed, low-cost communications to the developing and developed world, the demand for mission-critical orbit spectrum resources is increasing and a so-called ‘race for space’ is emerging.
Katherine Gizinski, CEO/ManSat Limited, commented: “We are excited to be part of this project which we see as a unique and valuable opportunity to develop key orbital resources with mid-ocean coverage to address marine and aero mobility needs worldwide”.
Gregg Daffner, CEO of GapSat, added: “Given the rapid expansion of satellite communications in recent years, especially for High Throughput Satellites (HTS) and Ultra-HTS, scarcity of spectrum has become a critical issue and satellite operators have been steadily moving up the spectrum ladder to higher frequencies. We have seen the move from C-band to Ku-band and to Ka-band and more recently, an interest in developing Q and V-bands. With the acquisition of QBX providing us with high priority orbital slot filings and patents to develop a global geostationary satellite constellation, GapSat is now ideally placed to meet the growing demands of the communications infrastructure sector.”
The QBX assets comprise a patent for radically new techniques to improve in-flight safety and communications for geostationary aero-mobility services and a suite of three ITU geostationary satellite slot filings using conveniently placed orbital locations to provide for full global coverage/service from the resulting geostationary constellation, using the Ka, Q/V and E/W bands for long-term spectrum future-proofing.
With a strong background in developing existing in-orbit satellites for sale or lease and the addition of this new portfolio of radio frequency spectrum and intellectual property, GapSat says it is currently seeking potential partners that could be existing satellite fleet operators, aero systems integrators, aero instrumentation manufacturers or financial investors, to develop the assets for data services in the marine and aero mobility sectors.