#spacenews, #SANFRANCISCO – Global #satellite fleet operator Intelsat announced an agreement Sept. 12 with Aalyria #Technologies to dramatically speed up #satellite #communications.

“How do you create the capacity and capability of subsea cables but put them in space?” Chris Taylor, Aalyria founder and CEO, asked at the World Satellite Business Week conference here. “Multi-terabit throughput from space is what we’re after. And Intelsat believes in it.”

As a first step, Intelsat and Aalyria plan to establish a bi-directional optical ground and space network in 2024 to transfer data at speeds of hundreds of gigabits per second. The network will rely on Tightbeam, Aalyria’s optical communications technology initially developed at Google parent company, Alphabet, and Spacetime, Aalyria network orchestration technology.

#spacenews, #Arianespace to launch #Intelsat small GEO #satellite, PARIS — Arianespace will launch a small geostationary communication satellite for Intelsat on an Ariane 6 in 2026, a sign of a stable, but diminished, role for such satellites in the commercial launch market.

#Arianespace announced Sept. 12 it signed a contract with Intelsat to launch the IS-45 satellite in the first half of 2026. The satellite will fly with unnamed co-passengers on the more powerful version of the Ariane 6, the Ariane 64.

Intelsat ordered IS-45 last November from Swissto12, a Swiss company that has developed 3D-printing technologies for space systems. The one-ton satellite will carry a payload of 12 Ku-band transponders. The satellite is based on the HummingSat platform that Swissto12 developed with support from the European Space Agency.