JoeySat demo beam-hopping 5G satellite heading for LEO, via Florida

Its fully digital beam-hopping and beam-steering payload can switch between different places on Earth up to 1000 times per second, says the agency, and adjust the strength of the communications signals to meet demand.

Nicknamed JoeySat, after a baby kangaroo, it will be used to provide high-speed internet connectivity anywhere on Earth. For example, people on ships at sea, on planes in flight and while travelling over land, .

Its advanced digital regenerative payload was built, tested and fully qualified by SatixFy in the UK and the payload environmental tests were completed in the UK. The flexible payload is fully software defined and will be reconfigurable in orbit.

SatixFy

SatixFy, a UK manufacturer of electronic systems for communications over satellite, has previously demonstrated the 5G link through a LEO satellite constellation, back in July 2022.

Using its compact fully electronically steered multi-beam multi-orbit antenna terminal, the Farnborough-based company described it as the first ever demonstration of a high-speed, low-latency link with a LEO constellation incorporating 5G.

In this case, SatixFy partnered with OneWeb under the ESA Sunrise Partnership Project, with support from the UK Space Agency, to develop its steerable multi-beam array technology suitable for mobility services over both LEO and GEO satellites simultaneously. The terminal can also be integrated into 5G equipment to allow end-to-end access to a LEO constellation network via a 5G signal.

LEO

The demonstration involved a user terminal being mounted on a car and performing several satellite and beam handovers, along with frequency hopping over the OneWeb LEO network at 1,200 km. This was while maintaining a simultaneous and continuous link with a GEO satellite at an altitude of 36,000 Km. Live 4K UHDTV video and audio streaming took place from the GEO satellite, said SatixFy.

Florida bound

The satellite has now shipped to the OneWeb factory assembly line in Florida where it will undergo further assembly and tests.

Notably – developed under the Sunrise Partnership Project – the satellite was built within a year of the contract signing between the parties, using off-the-shelf commercial parts. It is due to be launched within the next few months, says ESA.

“Once again our Partnership Projects demonstrate how ESA cooperates efficiently with industry to anticipate crucial developments in a timely manner and create real solutions,” said ESA’s Director of Telecommunications and Integrated Applications, Elodie Viau. “The Joeysat satellite demonstrator for OneWeb’s next-generation constellation is a brilliant example of this cooperation.”

Note that SatixFy and OneWeb have previously partnered to deliver Wi-Fi on aircraft via low-orbit telecommunications satellites.

The Joey-Sat to demo was first announced back in May 2021

A group of UK space technology companies agreed to develop a new beam-hopping satellite, with funding of £32 million from the UK Space Agency, via the European Space Agency’s Sunrise Programme.

The goal is to allow satellites to switch which part of the world they cover, managing real-time surges in commercial demand or responding to emergencies such as natural disasters.

See also: ESA signs up for more space on smarter European roads