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Satellite launched to provide broadband in Asia-Pacific
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Posted on Dec 17 2019
A private company will be launching a satellite into low-earth orbit to provide low-cost internet over a wide area of Asia and the Pacific, including the CNMI and Guam.
The satellite, owned by Kacific Broadband Satellites Group, which is based in Singapore, will be working with SpaceX to launch the satellite from a launchpad in Florida, with two possible windows: either yesterday at 3:32pm (Saipan time) or today at 3:32pm (Saipan time).
The satellite, called Kacific1, will be Kacific Broadband Satellites Group’s first one in space. The company describes the satellite in a press release as a high-quality, low-cost broadband that is intended to provide high-quality, low-cost satellite broadband that is accessible from a small, easy-to-install and affordable antenna.
Kacific1 is designed and built by Boeing and will launch into geostationary orbit atop a SpaceX Falcon9 launch vehicle. Kacific1 will cover more than 600 million people across 25 nations in the Pacific and Southeast Asia.
Covered nations include American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Micronesia, New Zealand, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Philippines, and Timor-Leste.
Once the satellite is in its orbital position above the Asia Pacific, Kacific1 will provide previous unserved or underserved populations in the Pacific and Southeast Asia with affordable, high-speed broadband for healthcare, education, government services, business and disaster relief.
Kacific Broadband Satellites Group was founded by CEO Christion Patouraux in 2013, and is headquartered in Singapore.
Kacific sells internet access via wholesale channels to government agencies, institutions, businesses, community groups, and households.
Kacific aims to provide broadband quality at a lower price than current retail price.
