NSLComm, an Israel-based company, has asked the FCC for permission to launch its BeetleSat system and to access the US. The scheme calls for 344 small Ka-band satellites in total. The 344 will comprise 264 orbiting at 720 kms and 80 at 810 kms. The satellites are small, weighing just 9 kgs and each capable of handling 8 Gb/s of data.

The FCC submission was filed on August 16th and says its intention is to deliver “exceptionally low latency, high- throughput and cost-effective point to point communications, cellular backhaul/trunking, mobility and other services from space”.

NSL claims that, helped by a large antenna, their system will handle Gigabit-per-second bandwidth and is “100 times more efficient than any such system currently in operation”.

The ‘nano-craft’ are small, just 6u in size. NSL has successfully launched two demonstration craft.

NSL’s BeetleSat scheme is headed up by Patricio Northland who was once Eutelsat America’s CEO, and CEO of Satelites Mexicanos (SATMEX) and Chairman, President and CEO of AT&T Latin America. NSL’s CTO is Moshe Golani, who has worked at AMOS Spacecom.

The BeetleSat scheme calls for manufacturing to take place in 2024-2025, and to launch in 2026 with full deployment in 2027.

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Categories: Blogs, Inside Satellite, Satellite

Tags: Israel, satellite