OneWeb Hybrid LEO/GEO Satellite System Faces Big Hurdles

The idea of a hybrid network of low earth orbiting (LEO) and geosynchronous satellites dates back nearly 20 years, but it now has new life with the OneWeb/Intelsat agreement to tie Intelsat's GEO system into OneWeb's planned swarm of 648 Ku-band LEO satellites (see 1506250023). “It’s not a new concept, but it makes a lot of sense," said Clay Mowry, president of Arianespace, which OneWeb hired to do 21 Soyuz rocket launches of its satellites, while contracting Virgin Galactic for another 39 using its LauncherOne.

Aborted LEO/GEO efforts like Motorola's Celestri and Alcatel’s Skybridge -- which would have seen a constellation of LEO satellites synchronized to turn off when they cross the path of GEO beams -- failed when the market soured on satellite investments in the face of such bankruptcies as Globalstar and Iridium, and GEO became the dominant technology. Now, technology advances have driven down the size and costs of LEOs, and that coupled with cheaper launches has the satellite industry seeing notable numbers of LEO deals (see 1506250047).

Before that satellite-provided broadband network goes live in 2019, OneWeb -- formerly known as WorldVu -- has multiple financial, commercial and technical hurdles to clear, said an expert in an interview last week. While it said last week it has raised $500 million from a group of investors, including Airbus Group, EchoStar, Virgin Group and Intelsat, OneWeb’s plans will likely need in excess of $2 billion -- “and many people think that’s a relatively conservative estimate," said satellite communications consultant Tim Farrar. The company also will have to make a compelling case to potential customers, he said. "Why do you need a LEO and GEO hybrid? There are some places that may be better served by low earth orbits and some places better served by geostationary. For a given user, unless they're flying around the world the whole time, most stationary users are better served by one or the other." Latency-sensitive customers will pay a premium for better coverage, but it's unclear how price competitive the hybrid offering will be for customers that aren't, Farrar said. Intelsat said it expected the joint service to be cost competitive.

The biggest technical challenge will be an interoperable end-user terminal that can merge OneWeb's small satellites with Intelsat's existing GEOs for accessing the OneWeb/Intelsat broadband network, said Kurt Riegelman, Intelsat senior vice president-sales and marketing. “We know we have a lot of work to do coming up with a terminal that is hybrid." Adding to that joint constellation will be Intelsat's Epic satellite system, expected to begin launching in 2016.

Another challenge OneWeb faces is from SpaceX as the two vie for spectrum rights for their plans for worldwide broadband delivered by constellations of small LEO satellites, Farrar said. While OneWeb was allocated spectrum through the ITU, SpaceX is going through the FCC, which takes a spectrum sharing approach, Farrar said. "That’s going to be the biggest issue, that back and forth between the two companies over who gets first dibs," he said. "There will be a race to launch the first test satellites, as whoever launches first gets priority in choosing bandwidth" (see 1501260057).

The combined OneWeb/Intelsat broadband coverage -- scheduled to be operational in 2019 -- is being aimed at such applications as aviation and vehicular connectivity, with Honeywell earlier this year saying it would use OneWeb to boost high-speed data services it offers to aircraft. “There are certain verticals that can benefit from a hybrid service” such as aeronautics and maritime, oil and gas, and government applications, Riegelman said. The polar regions are better served by LEO satellites, and Intelsat is seeing increased demand as pole transit traffic increases, he said. The LEO system also can be a stopgap for shifting data traffic patterns, Riegelman said. "This gives us the ability to address changes, the emerging traffic patterns before we launch a new Epic," he said. "There are going to be places where we think we can use this capacity rather than building a whole new [GEO] satellite."