Eutelsat, Thaicom partner for new Asia satellite
August 7, 2023
By Chris Forrester
Eutelsat and Thaicom will jointly fund a new software-defined satellite for location at the 119.5 degrees East orbital slot over Asia.
Under this partnership, Eutelsat will expand its service over the continent. Eutelsat is committed to lease and operate the service for half of the capacity on the satellite during its lifetime.
The formal agreement is between Eutelsat Asia PTE and Space Tech Innovation (STI) a subsidiary of Thaicom. STI will procure the satellite for delivery in orbit during 2027.
Eutelsat says it will expand its in-orbit assets by some 50 Gbps of incremental capacity over Asia to address surging demand for connectivity in the region. The software defined satellite’s performance, combined with the high level of flexibility in terms of coverage, bandwidth allocation, and power levels, will assure an unparalleled quality of service to Eutelsat’s customers in the Asian region. It will be fully compatible with Eutelsat and OneWeb’s GEO / LEO multi-orbit approach.
Eva Berneke, CEO of Eutelsat, commented: “This strategic partnership with Thaicom to leverage the 119.5° East position, perfectly located to address the entire Asian region, represents a great opportunity for Eutelsat as well as an innovative investment approach. We are confident in Thaicom’s experience as a leading satellite operator in Asia with over 30 years’ experience in the industry and its expertise in the Asia-Pacific market. This new generation satellite, fully compatible with our future LEO-GEO offer will enable Eutelsat to address the dynamic growth in connectivity demand in the region.”