spacetoday.net: ViaSat taps Boeing for next-generation broadband satellite

Posted: Fri, May 17, 2013, 10:00 AM ET (1400 GMT)
ViaSat-2 illustration (Boeing)

Satellite broadband provider ViaSat announced Thursday that it has selected Boeing to build its next satellite that will provided increases capacity and coverage. Boeing will build ViaSat-2, a 702HP model spacecraft designed to provide broadband data services in the Ka-band. ViaSat said the satellite will serve customers in North America, Central America, and the Caribbean, as well as parts of South America and transportation routes between North America and Europe, providing bandwidth "commensurate" with fiber-to-the-home services. ViaSat-2 is scheduled for launch in mid-2016. The announcement took some in the industry by surprise, as earlier reports indicated that Lockheed Martin was the frontrunner to win the contract to build ViaSat-2.