The Kacific1 communications satellite, built by Boeing, has arrived at SpaceX facilities in Cape Canaveral, Florida, where it will be launched atop a Falcon 9 rocket to geostationary orbit.
Owned by Kacific Broadband Satellites Group (Kacific), this next-generation high-throughput Ka-band satellite will stream broadband to 25 nations in South East Asia and the Pacific Islands via 56 spot beams. Kacific1 is based on Boeing’s reliable 702MP-satellite platform and will provide the most powerful signal level ever achieved in a commercial satellite in the region.
Kacific1 will deliver high-speed broadband services to previously unserved or under-served people in nations where populations are widely dispersed, and therefore expensive to connect. Many of these nations are archipelagos or have rugged mountain ranges and large rural territories, making satellite technology the best – and sometimes only – way to connect to the internet and phone networks.
The Kacific system will be particularly appealing to the needs of health and education departments in provinces and villages. Furthermore, satellite broadband access provides critical communications channels to a region which is often victim to tropical storms, cyclones, earthquakes and tsunamis.
The planned launch of the Kacific-1 satellite in late 2019 will improve broadband satellite capacity for the Solomon Islands – which will soon also benefit from an Australian funded high-speed cable network. The Australian government is assisting by providing the majority of funding for the new submarine cable system, with contributions from the Solomon Islands government.
In recent years, the Solomon Islands has stabilised both politically and economically – and this, along with improvements to mobile infrastructure – has led to a sharp rise in mobile penetration.
With Kacific1 Media