SkyTerra 1 Antenna Deployed

By Doug Lung
published


The antenna on SkyTerra 1 was successfully deployed soon after last week's RF Report noted the problems that satellite manufacturer Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems and antenna manufacturer Harris Corp. were having with the huge 22-meter antenna on LightSquared's satellite.

Peter B. de Selding, in his article on SpaceNews.com reports "The exact procedure used by Boeing, with the aid of Harris, to unblock the deployment remains unclear. But two industry officials said that with a 98 percent deployment, the antenna is all but certain to provide the power and coverage that LightSquared needs to meet its regulatory obligations. One official said that if the antenna's ribbing does not lock into place, there is a risk of less-than-optimal coverage. But this official said the risk was not large, and that it now appeared clear that LightSquared would be able to use the satellite as designed."

SkyTerra 1 will use frequencies in the 1.6 GHz band and as many as 500 or more spot beams to provide data rates in the 300-400 kbps range to handheld phones. LightSquared is also building a terrestrial 4G-LTE network that will work with the same phones at higher data rates.

Doug Lung
Doug Lung

Doug Lung is one of America's foremost authorities on broadcast RF technology. As vice president of Broadcast Technology for NBCUniversal Local, H. Douglas Lung leads NBC and Telemundo-owned stations’ RF and transmission affairs, including microwave, radars, satellite uplinks, and FCC technical filings. Beginning his career in 1976 at KSCI in Los Angeles, Lung has nearly 50 years of experience in broadcast television engineering. Beginning in 1985, he led the engineering department for what was to become the Telemundo network and station group, assisting in the design, construction and installation of the company’s broadcast and cable facilities. Other projects include work on the launch of Hawaii’s first UHF TV station, the rollout and testing of the ATSC mobile-handheld standard, and software development related to the incentive auction TV spectrum repack.
A longtime columnist for TV Technology, Doug is also a regular contributor to IEEE Broadcast Technology. He is the recipient of the 2023 NAB Television Engineering Award. He also received a Tech Leadership Award from TV Tech publisher Future plc in 2021 and is a member of the IEEE Broadcast Technology Society and the Society of Broadcast Engineers.