Sky Muster
The Sky Muster satellites are two geostationary (GEO) communications satellites operated by NBN Co Limited and built by SSL. They were launched in 2015 and 2016 to provide fast broadband in areas where NBN didn't want to either lay fiber or install enough wireless antennas and offshore. The satellites are positioned 35,786 kilometres (22,236 mi) above the equator, north of Australia. They provide download speeds to users of up to 100 Mbit/s, and upload speeds of 5 Mbit/s in a best-case scenario.
| Mission type | Communication |
|---|---|
| Operator | NBN |
| COSPAR ID | 2015-054A |
| SATCAT no. | 40940 |
| Spacecraft properties | |
| Bus | SSL 1300 |
| Manufacturer | SSL |
| Launch mass | 6,440 kilograms (14,200 lb) |
| Start of mission | |
| Launch date | 30 September 2015 |
| Rocket | Ariane 5 |
| Launch site | Kourou ELA-3 |
| Contractor | Arianespace |
| Orbital parameters | |
| Reference system | Geocentric |
| Regime | Geostationary |
| Longitude | 140° E |
| Period | 23 hours, 56 minutes, 4 seconds |
| Transponders | |
| Band | Ka band |
| Frequency | Earth to the satellite being transmitted at 27 GHz to 31 GHz, satellite to the Earth being transmitted at 17.7 GHz to 22 GHz |
| Capacity | Currently 135 Gbit/s combined (1A and 1B), final capacity 185 Gbit/s |
| Coverage area | Australia mainland and some overseas territories |
Each Sky Muster has 101 spot beams, which are focused satellite signals which are specially concentrated in power and cover a specific geographic area. The electromagnetic Ka band spot beams are used to carry information from the end users' equipment on the ground to the satellites. Each satellite offers 80 gigabits per second of bandwidth. The two satellites will provide high-speed broadband service to 400,000 Australian homes and businesses in rural and remote Australia. The two satellites were designed to provide service for at least 15 years.
Sky Muster I (NBN-Co 1A) was launched on 1 October 2015 from the Guiana Space Centre in French Guiana, South America, alongside Argentina's ARSAT-2, on an Ariane 5ECA rocket.
Sky Muster I operates in geostationary orbit of 140° East. Sky Muster I became operational in April 2016.
Sky Muster II (NBN-Co 1B) was launched on 5 October 2016, and operates in geostationary orbit of 145° East.
Initial services were offered on the service to end users commencing in January, 2016.
As of June 2020, there are over 100,000 active customers connected to a Sky Muster service, with the largest single Retail Service Provider of Sky Muster services being SkyMesh with over 40,000 active Sky Muster connections.