Astrium renews satellite capacity agreement with Intelsat

Astrium Services and Intelsat S.A. have renewed a multi-year agreement for C-band satellite capacity used by Astrium's customers in the business and maritime VSAT sectors.

Intelsat will draw C-band capacity from its Intelsat 907 satellite to ensure data connectivity and voice communication for passengers and operational purposes. This satellite capacity will be used by Astrium's new Business Communications unit to deliver high bandwidth to C-band customized VSAT users, as well as providing satellite broadband and expanded capabilities to customers in the cruise, ferry, and offshore markets.

The renewed capacity allows maritime customers to keep on integrating new services aboard their vessels and improve the efficiency of their operations through the addition of new technology. It will also allow cruise and ferry operators to offer Wi-Fi connectivity throughout their vessel for the simultaneous use of multiple passengers.

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Astrium Services widens maritime VSAT bandwidth, services, coverage

Astrium Services made it known that the major extensions to their worldwide VSAT satellite communications services have been completed. The Company can now provide greater bandwidth, more services, and the broadest commercially-available global coverage through a larger number of small maritime VSAT antenna.

Back in September 2012, Astrium Services announced that it has improved the coverage and service of its Pharostar, Sealink, and Wavecall brands. The three Astrium maritime VSAT services use iDirect technology to meet the maritime market's need for high-performance broadband connectivity.

Astrium had boosted data throughput speeds for both standardized VSAT systems and the Sealink custom solutions. Standard very small aperture terminals can reach 3 Mbps while Sealink solutions can hit up to 10 Mbps. This means faster data transfers and more cost-efficient connections for maritime vessels who use Astrium services.

The improved speeds of Astrium VSAT services will be able to provide fast and always-on connectivity to maritime applications such as Internet from satellite access, email, voice calls, fax and SMS, database backup, video and file transfer protocol for business and crew communications.

In addition, Astrium has completed its geographical coverage extensions over the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) in October 2012. The Company expects to extend its services to the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean before the year ends. Astrium VSAT service customers will automatically receive coverage in the new areas. 

The Astrium services can also be combined with both Ku-band and complimentary MSS connectivity, allowing the maritime vessel to stay connected even outside VSAT coverage zones. Another optional is the Vizada XChange control platform, which can enhance the VSAT extension through its remote fleet management services.