TRW, Lockheed Martin and Telespazio have agreed to invest $900 million in Astrolink, a $3.6 billion venture to provide global broadband satellite communications service. In return, Lockheed Martin has received a contract from Astrolink to build four satellites with TRW-supplied Ka-band payloads.
Astrolink will allow companies to configure global virtual private networks and will provide high bandwidth interactive services such as e-commerce and videoconferencing. Lockheed Martin Global Telecommunications owns 46% of the joint venture, while TRW and Telespazio, a Telecom Italia company, each hold 27%.
The founding partners finalised their investment agreement after the venture received government approval in Europe and the USA. Negotiations continue with additional strategic equity partners, says Celso Azevedo, president of Bethesda, Maryland-based Astrolink. The company plans to begin services in 2003 and, depending on demand, could increase its constellation to up to nine geostationary satellites. The satellites will be based on Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems' proven A2100 spacecraft bus, which Azevedo says will help Astrolink "lead the race to deploy the first of a new generation of flexible, reliable, high-speed, global wireless data services."
The high-capacity packet-switched communications payload will be supplied by TRW Space & Electronics, which has experience developing the payload for the US Milstar military communications satellite.
Source: Flight International