Mobile Satellite Ventures has contracted with ILS International Launch Services, Inc. for the launch in 2009 of one of two high-powered, next-generation satellites, designed to provide seamless, transparent and ubiquitous broadband wireless coverage of North and Central America to consumer electronic devices. The ILS agreement is for a single firm launch and includes an option for a second launch. ILS plans to launch the MSV spacecraft on a Proton/Breeze M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
Separately, Mobile Satellite Ventures has contracted with Sea Launch for the launch in 2010 of the second of two high-powered, next-generation satellites. Sea Launch plans to launch the MSV spacecraft on a Zenit-3SL vehicle from a site on the Equator near the island of Kiribati in the Pacific Ocean.
The two new MSV satellites, under construction by The Boeing Company, will operate in geostationary orbit over North America from 101 degrees and 107.3 degrees west longitude. The satellites feature 22-meter diameter, elliptical mesh reflectors that will support L-band communication with conventional handsets through a network based on MSV’s patented ancillary terrestrial component technology.
http://www.msvlp.com/http://www.sea-launch.com
- In January 2007, Mobile Satellite Ventures (MSV), which is developing a hybrid satellite-terrestrial communications network for coverage across the U.S. and Canada, named Drew Caplan as Chief Network Officer. Mr. Caplan will be responsible for MSV’s network engineering and technology functions, as well as leading the development and deployment of MSV’s next generation network. Prior to joining MSV, Mr. Caplan served as Vice President of National Network Services at Nextel Communications from November 1996 to August 2005.
- Ancillary Terrestrial Component (ATC) technology allows existing satellite phone spectrum to also be used in dedicated terrestrial networks. Call capacity is managed and reallocated, in real time, between satellite and terrestrial networks via a common control center.