LeoSat Enterprises, which is launching a constellation of up to 108 low-earth orbit (LEO) communications satellites, has entered into an agreement with the Spanish satellite operator Hispasat to invest in LeoSat.
With the investment, Hispasat finds a perfect complement for its geostationary fleet and expands its scope significantly towards new verticals that will define the data market over the next years. The investment in LeoSat underlines the company’s firm belief in the attributes of LeoSat’s new LEO network architecture to ensure further growth in the future.
With this strategic investment agreement, Hispasat joins Asia’s satellite operator SKY Perfect JSAT in the growing trend for satellite operators to future-proof their communications solutions through the development of LEO capabilities. Hispasat and SKY Perfect JSAT will work with LeoSat to accelerate a number of key activities including vendor selections for customer premise equipment and ground operations, as well as further optimisation of the satellite platform. The partnership will also enable LeoSat to leverage both the commercial and regulatory expertise of the two operators.
Combining advanced on-board routers with inter-satellite laser links, LeoSat is creating an optical backbone in space, providing fiber-like low-latency and gigabit per second data delivery which is ultra-secure and extremely resilient, thanks to its gateway independent meshed-network data-connectivity from transmitter to receiver. This solution will provide LeoSat and its partners with valuable new business opportunities in the growing data and mobility markets in sectors such as telecommunications, multinational enterprise, maritime and government services by ensuring previously unavailable levels of network performance combined with worldwide reach.
With the ever-increasing demand to move large quantities of data quickly and securely around the world there is a growing interest in the major performance advantages of communications networks in LEO. The features of LeoSat’s system – ubiquity, low-latency, speed and cybersecurity – are ideal for a number of applications, such as to enabling global 4G and 5G satellite connectivity for cellular operators, providing the bandwidth required for energy, maritime or financial sector operations, delivering secure networks for government and defence communications, ensuring critical emergency communications and enabling internet access and connectivity for remote communities.
Speaking about the agreement, Mark Rigolle, CEO of LeoSat said: “We are delighted that Hispasat, with its reputation for quality, efficiency and reliability and its strong presence in Europe, North Africa and Latin America, has chosen to invest in LeoSat to expand its network capabilities.
“Whilst the perception of satellite for data communications is often seen as a last resort, LeoSat will change that by pairing the speed of fiber with the ubiquity of satellite and adding a new dimension of ultra-security. Hispasat recognises that we will not only bring a paradigm shift in expanding the existing satellite services market, we will open up new markets for space-based data networking for telecoms, tech and media across the globe.”
Carlos Espinós, CEO of Hispasat, added: “This investment in LeoSat demonstrates our belief that there will be very strong demand for LeoSat as it is the best solution to address the Enterprise market. It will allow Hispasat to strengthen and expand our existing GEO satellite services and position the company at the forefront of the new digital infrastructure. In addition, Hispasat and SKY Perfect JSAT have a relationship of complementarity, understanding and mutual trust that will ease our joint leadership in this initiative.”
Koki Koyama, Senior Managing Executive Officer of SKY Perfect JSAT commented: “This is an exciting time and we are delighted to welcome Hispasat on board LeoSat which will provide the first enterprise-grade, extremely high speed and secure data service worldwide. Both SKY Perfect JSAT and Hispasat will support LeoSat in ensuring the successful launch of this unique new next-generation network.”
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