In a significant development in the Indian telecom and space sector, private firm Eutelsat-OneWeb has received the necessary clearances to beam 4G-speed internet from their satellites into Indian territory and the country's territorial waters.

At present, the company is awaiting satellite spectrum allocation from the Government of India. The firm has a constellation of more than 640 satellites, placed 1200kms above the earth's surface.

Notably, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), played a role in placing 72 of these satellites into orbit at a crucial time for the company.

Eutelsat-OneWeb is the first to receive this clearance in India at a time when there have been reports of Elon Musk's Starlink and Mukesh Ambani's JioSpaceFiber (a partnership between Reliance Jio and SES) also attempting to foray into this segment in India.

While not much is known about the progress of Starlink's India presence and the ground hardware for the same, recent reports have indicated a technical setback faced by SES, temporarily affecting the functionality of the O3b mPower satellites and thereby the JioSpaceFiber venture.

Eutelsat-OneWeb aims to provide internet services to the rural and unconnected areas, territorial waters of India on a 24/7 basis. The total quantum of internet speed that can be provided would be 21Gbps, they added.&nbsp;

Bharti Group Chairman and Vice-President (Co-Chair) of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said, “We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator’s green light to launch Eutelsat-OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services in India. This will be a critical step forward to meet India’s ambition of providing internet connectivity for all and will enable the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India. Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services.”

“As a next logical step, we are sanguine that the government will soon take the decision on satellite spectrum allocation to pave the way for the commencement of next-generation satellite communications in India,” said Lt. Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), who serves as the Director General of the Indian space industry body, Indian Space Association.&nbsp;

On Tuesday, IN-SPACe, the government-run facilitator and regulator for private space firms in India said that it has authorised Eutelsat-OneWeb constellation to enable the provisioning of its capacity in India for providing communication services.

However, the IN-SPACe authorisation provided to the firm has a validity period of five years and is subject to the assignment of the spectrum by the Indian Government's Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for both the gateways(ground-based stations that communicate with the satellites) and user terminal operations, and other requisite regulating licenses and approvals.&nbsp;

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Eutelsat-OneWeb said they have also obtained in-principle approval to establish and operate two gateways in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which would secure the provision of vital high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to customers across India, once services are rolled out.&nbsp;

Low Earth orbit satellites, such as those operated by Eutelsat-Oneweb, circle the Earth at an altitude of 600-1200kms, travelling at high speeds of approximately 28,000kmph.

Therefore, a single satellite would be visible from one point on Earth only for a handful of minutes, which means that each satellite offers coverage only over a small area at a time.

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In order to operate any service from LEO, one would require a fleet of satellites covering the earth and performing a sort of endless relay race - where one takes over after the other.

This is precisely why Eutelsat-OneWeb operates more than 640 satellites in its fleet. Being close to the earth, it is possible to rapidly beam down internet signals from these satellites and enable internet usage on-board flights, ships, and even in remote areas (where terrestrial communication connectivity is sparse) for high-speed utilities such as video-calling, online gaming, etc.

In contrast, geostationary satellites are perched at 36,000-km above the Earth's surface. When looked at from the blue planet, they always appear to be in a constant position at all times. This is because they move at the same speed at the earth's rotation.

Being as far above from the Earth, three equally-spaced geostationary satellites are capable of providing near-total global coverage. However, the regions near the earth's poles would find it very challenging to receive signals from these satellites. Also, there is a considerable amount of lag due to the long distance between the satellite and Earth. Therefore, it is not ideal for telephony and video-calling, online gaming, etc.

In a significant development in the Indian telecom and space sector, private firm Eutelsat-OneWeb has received the necessary clearances to beam 4G-speed internet from their satellites into Indian territory and the country's territorial waters.

In a significant development in the Indian telecom and space sector, private firm Eutelsat-OneWeb has received the necessary clearances to beam 4G-speed internet from their satellites into Indian territory and the country's territorial waters. At present, the company is awaiting satellite spectrum allocation from the Government of India. The firm has a constellation of more than 640 satellites, placed 1200kms above the earth's surface. Notably, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), played a role in placing 72 of these satellites into orbit at a crucial time for the company. Eutelsat-OneWeb is the first to receive this clearance in India at a time when there have been reports of Elon Musk's Starlink and Mukesh Ambani's JioSpaceFiber (a partnership between Reliance Jio and SES) also attempting to foray into this segment in India. While not much is known about the progress of Starlink's India presence and the ground hardware for the same, recent reports have indicated a technical setback faced by SES, temporarily affecting the functionality of the O3b mPower satellites and thereby the JioSpaceFiber venture. Eutelsat-OneWeb aims to provide internet services to the rural and unconnected areas, territorial waters of India on a 24/7 basis. The total quantum of internet speed that can be provided would be 21Gbps, they added. Bharti Group Chairman and Vice-President (Co-Chair) of the Board of Directors of Eutelsat Group, Sunil Bharti Mittal, said, “We are pleased to note the Indian space regulator’s green light to launch Eutelsat-OneWeb’s commercial satellite broadband services in India. This will be a critical step forward to meet India’s ambition of providing internet connectivity for all and will enable the Hon’ble Prime Minister’s vision of Digital India. Eutelsat OneWeb is ready to deploy as soon as it receives the final spectrum authorization to launch commercial services.” “As a next logical step, we are sanguine that the government will soon take the decision on satellite spectrum allocation to pave the way for the commencement of next-generation satellite communications in India,” said Lt. Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), who serves as the Director General of the Indian space industry body, Indian Space Association. On Tuesday, IN-SPACe, the government-run facilitator and regulator for private space firms in India said that it has authorised Eutelsat-OneWeb constellation to enable the provisioning of its capacity in India for providing communication services. However, the IN-SPACe authorisation provided to the firm has a validity period of five years and is subject to the assignment of the spectrum by the Indian Government's Department of Telecommunication (DoT) for both the gateways(ground-based stations that communicate with the satellites) and user terminal operations, and other requisite regulating licenses and approvals. Also read | WATCH I Uttarakhand tunnel rescue: First visuals of trapped workers taken via endoscopic camera released Eutelsat-OneWeb said they have also obtained in-principle approval to establish and operate two gateways in Gujarat and Tamil Nadu, which would secure the provision of vital high-speed, low-latency internet connectivity to customers across India, once services are rolled out. Low Earth orbit satellites, such as those operated by Eutelsat-Oneweb, circle the Earth at an altitude of 600-1200kms, travelling at high speeds of approximately 28,000kmph. Therefore, a single satellite would be visible from one point on Earth only for a handful of minutes, which means that each satellite offers coverage only over a small area at a time. Also read | Iceland volcanic eruption may happen with 30-minute warning: Met Office In order to operate any service from LEO, one would require a fleet of satellites covering the earth and performing a sort of endless relay race - where one takes over after the other. This is precisely why Eutelsat-OneWeb operates more than 640 satellites in its fleet. Being close to the earth, it is possible to rapidly beam down internet signals from these satellites and enable internet usage on-board flights, ships, and even in remote areas (where terrestrial communication connectivity is sparse) for high-speed utilities such as video-calling, online gaming, etc. In contrast, geostationary satellites are perched at 36,000-km above the Earth's surface. When looked at from the blue planet, they always appear to be in a constant position at all times. This is because they move at the same speed at the earth's rotation. Being as far above from the Earth, three equally-spaced geostationary satellites are capable of providing near-total global coverage. However, the regions near the earth's poles would find it very challenging to receive signals from these satellites. Also, there is a considerable amount of lag due to the long distance between the satellite and Earth. Therefore, it is not ideal for telephony and video-calling, online gaming, etc.

India’s remote areas may soon get Eutelsat-OneWeb satellite internet

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made it to Antarctica as the National Science Foundation (NSF) is in the midst of testing one of its Starlink terminals at one of the most extreme locations in the world. In a tweet, the NSF said that they are testing SpaceX’s Starlink terminal at McMurdo Station, based on an island right off the coast of Antarctica, as the company has shipped a Starlink dish to the US research facility.&nbsp;

The McMurdo Station is home to at least 1,000 people living and working there during the summer, where the satellite internet is not always reliable given the rough conditions. On Wednesday the tweet by NSF, while announcing SpaceX’s milestone, said that the scientists working in the U.S. Antarctic Programme were “over the moon”, with increasing bandwidth and connectivity. Further indicating that this will help scientists with their work on the remote continent.&nbsp;

Subsequently, SpaceX’s Twitter account announced that Starlink is now on all seven continents and how its availability and capability in such a remote location like Antarctica is enabled by the project’s space laser network. Reportedly, McMurdo is one of the most heavily populated stations in Antarctica and while the station already had satellite internet it was really slow and described as patchy. Furthermore, everyone at the base currently shares a 17 Mbps link but will Starlink internet service will be better and not patchy like it was earlier, said the USAP.&nbsp; 
&nbsp;

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Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink's space laser network <a href="https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u">https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u</a>
— SpaceX (@SpaceX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1570073223005622274?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 14, 2022</a></blockquote>
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Along with SpaceX the other contender racing to cover the North Pole and other Artic areas with satellite internet was OneWeb. Reports also suggest that scientists at the McMurdo station were not allowed to use Netflix or take video calls except for Skype or FaceTime sessions once a week at a public kiosk or mission-critical communications. On the other hand, Starlink can offer a speed of up to 200 Mbps.&nbsp;

According to Musk, SpaceX is launching Starlink satellites approximately every five days or so and next year plans to launch at least 100 orbital missions. Notably, SpaceX completed its 40th mission so far this year which was marked by successfully launching 51 more Starlink satellites in space.&nbsp; 
 
(With inputs from agencies)

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made it to Antarctica as the National Science Foundation (NSF) is in the midst of testing one of its Starlink terminals at one of the most extreme locations in the world.

Elon Musk’s SpaceX made it to Antarctica as the National Science Foundation (NSF) is in the midst of testing one of its Starlink terminals at one of the most extreme locations in the world. In a tweet, the NSF said that they are testing SpaceX’s Starlink terminal at McMurdo Station, based on an island right off the coast of Antarctica, as the company has shipped a Starlink dish to the US research facility. The McMurdo Station is home to at least 1,000 people living and working there during the summer, where the satellite internet is not always reliable given the rough conditions. On Wednesday the tweet by NSF, while announcing SpaceX’s milestone, said that the scientists working in the U.S. Antarctic Programme were “over the moon”, with increasing bandwidth and connectivity. Further indicating that this will help scientists with their work on the remote continent. Subsequently, SpaceX’s Twitter account announced that Starlink is now on all seven continents and how its availability and capability in such a remote location like Antarctica is enabled by the project’s space laser network. Reportedly, McMurdo is one of the most heavily populated stations in Antarctica and while the station already had satellite internet it was really slow and described as patchy. Furthermore, everyone at the base currently shares a 17 Mbps link but will Starlink internet service will be better and not patchy like it was earlier, said the USAP. Starlink is now on all seven continents! In such a remote location like Antarctica, this capability is enabled by Starlink's space laser network https://t.co/c9HX0xrX0u — SpaceX (@SpaceX) September 14, 2022 × Along with SpaceX the other contender racing to cover the North Pole and other Artic areas with satellite internet was OneWeb. Reports also suggest that scientists at the McMurdo station were not allowed to use Netflix or take video calls except for Skype or FaceTime sessions once a week at a public kiosk or mission-critical communications. On the other hand, Starlink can offer a speed of up to 200 Mbps. According to Musk, SpaceX is launching Starlink satellites approximately every five days or so and next year plans to launch at least 100 orbital missions. Notably, SpaceX completed its 40th mission so far this year which was marked by successfully launching 51 more Starlink satellites in space. (With inputs from agencies)

SpaceX Starlink satellite internet service reaches 'all seven continents'

Western intelligence agencies are investigating a cyberattack by unidentified hackers that disrupted broadband&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;internet&nbsp;access in Ukraine coinciding with Russia's invasion, according to three people with direct knowledge of the incident.

Analysts for the US&nbsp;National Security Agency, French government cybersecurity organization ANSSI, and Ukrainian intelligence are assessing whether the remote sabotage of a&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;internet&nbsp;provider's service was the work of Russian-state backed hackers preparing the battlefield by attempting to sever communications.

The digital blitz on the&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;service began on Feb. 24 between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., just as Russian forces started going in and firing missiles, striking major Ukrainian cities including the capital, Kyiv.

The consequences are still being investigated but&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;modems belonging to tens of thousands of customers in Europe were knocked offline, according to an official of US&nbsp;telecommunications firm Viasat, which owns the affected network.

The hackers disabled modems that communicate with Viasat Inc's KA-SAT&nbsp;satellite, which supplies internet access to some customers in Europe, including Ukraine. More than two weeks later some remain offline, resellers told Reuters.

What appears to be one of the most significant wartime cyberattacks publicly disclosed so far has piqued the interest of Western intelligence because Viasat acts as a defense contractor for both the United States and multiple allies.

Government contracts reviewed by Reuters show that KA-SAT has provided&nbsp;internet&nbsp;connectivity to Ukrainian military and police units.

Pablo Breuer, a former technologist for US&nbsp;special operations command, or SOCOM, said knocking out&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;internet&nbsp;connectivity could handicap Ukraine’s ability to combat Russian forces.

"Traditional land-based radios only reach so far. If you’re using modern smart systems, smart weapons, trying to do combined arms maneuvers, then you must rely on these&nbsp;satellites," said Breuer.

The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Moscow has repeatedly rejected allegations that it participates in cyberattacks.

Russian soldiers have besieged Ukrainian cities in what the Kremlin describes as a "de-Nazification" operation that has been denounced by the West as an unprovoked assault and led to severe sanctions against Moscow as punishment.

MODEMS INOPERATIVE

Viasat said in a statement that the disruption for customers in Ukraine and elsewhere was triggered by a "deliberate, isolated and external cyber event" but has yet to provide a detailed, public explanation of what happened.

"The network is stabilized and we are restoring service and activating terminals as quickly as possible," spokesperson Chris Phillips said in an email, adding that the company was prioritizing "critical infrastructure and humanitarian assistance."

The affected modems appeared to be completely inoperative, according to Jaroslav Stritecky, who runs Czech telecommunications company INTV. Normally, he said, the four status lights on the curved, SurfBeam 2 modems would indicate whether they were connected to the&nbsp;internet. After the attack, the lights on the Viasat-made devices would not turn on at all.

The Viasat official said a misconfiguration in the "management section" of the&nbsp;satellite&nbsp;network had allowed the hackers remote access into the modems, knocking them offline. He said most of the affected devices would need to be reprogrammed either by a technician on site or at a repair depot and that some would have to be swapped out.

The Viasat official wasn’t explicit about what the "management section" of the network referred to and declined to provide further details. KA-SAT and its associated ground stations, which Viasat purchased last year from European company Eutelsat, are still operated by a Eutelsat subsidiary.

Eutelsat referred questions back to Viasat.

Viasat has hired US&nbsp;cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which specializes in tracking state-sponsored hackers, to investigate the intrusion, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Spokespeople for the NSA, ANSSI, and Mandiant declined to comment.

Viasat said government clients who procured services directly from the company were unaffected by the disruption. The KA-SAT network is operated, however, by a third party, which in turn farms out service through various distributors.

Over the past several years Ukraine's military and security services have purchased several different communications systems that run over Viasat’s network, according to contracts posted on ProZorro, a Ukrainian transparency platform.

A message seeking comment from the Ukrainian military was not immediately returned.

Some&nbsp;internet&nbsp;distributors are still waiting to replace their devices.

Stritecky, the Czech telecom executive, said he did not blame Viasat.

He recalled coming into work on the morning of the invasion and seeing a monitor showing regional satellite coverage in the Czech Republic, neighbouring Slovakia, and Ukraine all in red.

"It was immediately clear what happened," he said.

Western intelligence agencies are investigating a cyberattack by unidentified hackers that disrupted broadband satellite internet access in Ukraine coinciding with Russia's invasion, according to three people with direct knowledge of the incident.

Western intelligence agencies are investigating a cyberattack by unidentified hackers that disrupted broadband satellite internet access in Ukraine coinciding with Russia's invasion, according to three people with direct knowledge of the incident. Analysts for the US National Security Agency, French government cybersecurity organization ANSSI, and Ukrainian intelligence are assessing whether the remote sabotage of a satellite internet provider's service was the work of Russian-state backed hackers preparing the battlefield by attempting to sever communications. The digital blitz on the satellite service began on Feb. 24 between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., just as Russian forces started going in and firing missiles, striking major Ukrainian cities including the capital, Kyiv. The consequences are still being investigated but satellite modems belonging to tens of thousands of customers in Europe were knocked offline, according to an official of US telecommunications firm Viasat, which owns the affected network. The hackers disabled modems that communicate with Viasat Inc's KA-SAT satellite, which supplies internet access to some customers in Europe, including Ukraine. More than two weeks later some remain offline, resellers told Reuters. What appears to be one of the most significant wartime cyberattacks publicly disclosed so far has piqued the interest of Western intelligence because Viasat acts as a defense contractor for both the United States and multiple allies. Government contracts reviewed by Reuters show that KA-SAT has provided internet connectivity to Ukrainian military and police units. Pablo Breuer, a former technologist for US special operations command, or SOCOM, said knocking out satellite internet connectivity could handicap Ukraine’s ability to combat Russian forces. "Traditional land-based radios only reach so far. If you’re using modern smart systems, smart weapons, trying to do combined arms maneuvers, then you must rely on these satellites," said Breuer. The Russian Embassy in Washington did not immediately return a message seeking comment. Moscow has repeatedly rejected allegations that it participates in cyberattacks. Russian soldiers have besieged Ukrainian cities in what the Kremlin describes as a "de-Nazification" operation that has been denounced by the West as an unprovoked assault and led to severe sanctions against Moscow as punishment. MODEMS INOPERATIVE Viasat said in a statement that the disruption for customers in Ukraine and elsewhere was triggered by a "deliberate, isolated and external cyber event" but has yet to provide a detailed, public explanation of what happened. "The network is stabilized and we are restoring service and activating terminals as quickly as possible," spokesperson Chris Phillips said in an email, adding that the company was prioritizing "critical infrastructure and humanitarian assistance." The affected modems appeared to be completely inoperative, according to Jaroslav Stritecky, who runs Czech telecommunications company INTV. Normally, he said, the four status lights on the curved, SurfBeam 2 modems would indicate whether they were connected to the internet. After the attack, the lights on the Viasat-made devices would not turn on at all. The Viasat official said a misconfiguration in the "management section" of the satellite network had allowed the hackers remote access into the modems, knocking them offline. He said most of the affected devices would need to be reprogrammed either by a technician on site or at a repair depot and that some would have to be swapped out. The Viasat official wasn’t explicit about what the "management section" of the network referred to and declined to provide further details. KA-SAT and its associated ground stations, which Viasat purchased last year from European company Eutelsat, are still operated by a Eutelsat subsidiary. Eutelsat referred questions back to Viasat. Viasat has hired US cybersecurity firm Mandiant, which specializes in tracking state-sponsored hackers, to investigate the intrusion, according to two people familiar with the matter. Spokespeople for the NSA, ANSSI, and Mandiant declined to comment. Viasat said government clients who procured services directly from the company were unaffected by the disruption. The KA-SAT network is operated, however, by a third party, which in turn farms out service through various distributors. Over the past several years Ukraine's military and security services have purchased several different communications systems that run over Viasat’s network, according to contracts posted on ProZorro, a Ukrainian transparency platform. A message seeking comment from the Ukrainian military was not immediately returned. Some internet distributors are still waiting to replace their devices. Stritecky, the Czech telecom executive, said he did not blame Viasat. He recalled coming into work on the morning of the invasion and seeing a monitor showing regional satellite coverage in the Czech Republic, neighbouring Slovakia, and Ukraine all in red. "It was immediately clear what happened," he said.

US spy agency probes sabotage of satellite internet during Russian invasion: Sources

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