India-based Start-up Announces Launch of 5G Satellite Constellation

Sep, 2020 - By SMI

Vestaspace Technology, a firm based in Pune, India recently announced that it will begin launching a constellation of over 35 satellites by early 2021.

The firm said in a statement that a beta version of the satellite constellation is scheduled for September 2020, in addition to the planned launch of a completely functioning satellite constellation planned for 2021 in the low Earth orbit. The announcement comes in light of the delayed 5G trials in India due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Vestaspace Technology has stated that the satellites will cover key locations in India and also ensure IoT (internet of Things) functionality to the Indian population and the industrial sector in India. According to Arun Kumar Sureban, founder and CEO of Vestaspace Technology, "The project doesn't get affected if there is postponement in the government's 5G trials. The reason being that Vestaspace already has astounding results with the test run of our satellite-based 5G availability and deployment a few months ago. The results of our project will reflect in September 2020, which will support the test results obtained earlier."

Sureban further adds that they have placed eight ground stations and over 30,000 data receptors pan India to tackle potential issues with internet connectivity and other difficulties arising due to the complexity of the system. Positioning and telemetry activities have helped the company to execute these solutions. Moreover, the company obtained funding worth US$ 10 million from a U.S. based advisory firm, Next Capital LLC, which is helping the company expand its presence nationally and internationally. The CEO also mentions that strategic projects with leading space agencies such as the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) and NASA are expected to help Vestaspace strengthen its global positioning.

With regards to the technology, Sureban mentioned that the satellites which the company is launching will work on Artificial Intelligence. In an official report, the company has claimed to have achieved live-streaming of a 1080 HD video with a latency below 34 milliseconds and a speed over 400 Mbps.