Jabiru 1

Australia’s satellite company NewSat announced in December 2011, that as the next stage in the Jabiru satellite project, it has entered into a contract with Lockheed Martin Commercial Space Systems for the construction of the Jabiru-1 satellite.

Jabiru-1 will incorporate an advanced Ka-band payload which will provide high-powered satellite coverage across growth regions over the Middle East, Africa and Asia. The large Jabiru-1 spacecraft will utilise Lockheed Martin’s proven A2100AXS spacecraft and is designed for an in-orbit life of 15 years. The Jabiru-1 satellite will feature 50 Ka-band high power TWTAs configured in a variety of spot beams, theater beams, and steered beams to provide flexible communication solutions for a range of diverse applications.

Jabiru-1 will provide greater than 7 GHz of Ka-band capacity and features significant options in allocating the capacity among a combination of high-powered beams. The agreement with Lockheed Martin gives considerable flexibility with respect to the capacity of the satellite, which can be adjusted to meet NewSat’s final requirements.

The construction of the Jabiru-1 satellite will commence immediately and is scheduled for launch in the second half of 2014. Jabiru-1 will provide high-bandwidth communication services to government and enterprise markets including mining, oil, gas, media and carrier-grade telecommunications, across countries such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia and India.