Kratos Defense & Security Solutions Inc. announced that it has been awarded a contract by SKY Perfect JSAT Corp. (SJC), to design and build gateways for SJC’s new High Throughput Satellite (HTS) network. The JCSAT–18 HTS satellite, launching in 2019, will deliver broadband and mobile communication services to Asia Pacific and Eastern Russia.
Kratos will design and build a state-of-art Ka-Band multi-site gateway solution for SJC’s new JCSAT-18 satellite. Kratos’ breadth of gateway solutions are assembled and tested in Kratos’ integration facility to enable rapid on-site assembly and commissioning. This results in both higher quality and faster time-to-market than traditional piecemeal ground station deployments and protects SJC’s investment by reducing complexity and risk.
“In our efforts to deliver HTS services across the Pacific and Eastern Russia, SJC sought a long-term partner with a comprehensive portfolio of ground service products and a track-record of building high-performance gateway,” said Koki Koyama, SJC’s senior managing executive officer and president of Space Business. “The Kratos team was extremely responsive to our design needs and our partnership marks another major milestone towards our launch of the JCSAT-18 satellite.”
HTS next generation satellites leverage spot beam waveforms to achieve approximately 20x the throughput of previous generation satellites. Successful delivery of these types of high-bandwidth services requires important changes to the current ground infrastructure which is designed and optimized for traditional satellite operations. Kratos is leading this industry evolution by offering a broad portfolio of integrated Kratos products that provide satellite operators the most comprehensive and seamless gateway solution in the industry. Kratos’ gateway solution includes a broad array of ground station services from monitoring and control and network management products through high-performance antennas. This enables satellite operators to maximize their HTS business model investment by reducing risks and costs while improving time-to-market.
The SJC contract award is for a multi-site gateway solution that will include Kratos’ high-performance 13 m Ka-Band Turning Head Antennas and Compass® monitoring and control system. The pre-integrated solution will be installed at various SJC locations with control equipment centralized in the company’s Network Operations Centre.
“Satellite operators deploying HTS networks need to build new Ka-band ground infrastructure suitable for initial operations, but also designed for growth as business requirements evolve,” said James Kramer, Kratos senior vice president. “We appreciate the continued confidence that SJC has shown in Kratos to help maximize their investment with a high performance, multi-site gateway solution–one that supports their business model both now and in the future.”