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The Arcturus satellite is seen en route to geosynchronous orbit.
Astranis
Satellite internet service provider Astranis said Friday that its first commercial satellite in orbit, which was intended to provide coverage to Alaska, had malfunctioned. A backup satellite is planned for the spring.
It is an early setback for a unique approach to providing Internet service to underprivileged communities in remote locations. Astranis announced in May that Arcturus was working “ideally” and could begin serving Alaskans as soon as mid-June.
The company said the company’s Arcturus satellite suffered a problem with each of its solar arrays. Astranis CEO John Jedmark told CNBC that the problem “first came to light a couple of weeks ago.” The company on Monday identified the root cause, which is the assembly of the solar array motor by the vendor, not Astranis.
“Solar array motors are motors that spin the solar arrays to make sure they’re always pointed at the sun, and they go to transfer that energy back to the spacecraft. So if they stop responding and stop spinning…you don’t end up getting the full power you need,” Jedmark said.
A lack of power from the solar arrays means broadband communications “cannot operate at full capacity,” Jedmark said, but Astranis has identified the problem and knows how to fix it on future satellites.
In addition, the company said that Astranis has “total control” of Arcturus.
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The company declined to name the vendor that supplied the solar array motors. Gedmark confirmed on Friday that — until the solar array was released — Astranis-made parts were working. The company has successfully completed initial demonstrations to connect to remote locations in Alaska.
Pre-planned backup
The San Francisco-based company, which is acquiring An alternative approach to providing internet access with its satellites, it already has plans in place to bridge the gap in Alaskan coverage.
Astranis will launch a previously unannounced “UtilitySat” as part of a constellation of four satellites that are scheduled to fly later this year. Jedmark called it “the Swiss army knife of satellites.”
Unlike Astranis’ commercial satellites, UtilitySat has multi-frequency bands but lower capacity – meaning it offers about three gigabits per second of coverage, rather than the roughly nine gigabits per second of commercial satellites.
“We’ve built into our model that we’re going to put a number of spares into orbit and spare satellites that can be used to bridge capacity (or) for more secondary missions,” Jedmark said.
Astranis expects UtilitySat to begin providing service to Alaska by the spring of next year. Jedmark said the company expects to have a “full replacement” in early 2025.
In the meantime, Astranis will continue to research possible ways to restore Arcturus or use it as an experimental platform.
Gedmark suggested that the company could use it to test communication “anti-jamming capabilities that we might demonstrate as part of the work we’re doing with our partners in the Space Force.”
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