The NBN’s second sattellite, affectionately known as SkyMuster2 is complete. The satellite is designed to deliver NBN internet services to hundreds of thousands of Australians living in remote areas of our massive country. It will also help share the load of existing satellite users currently connected to the Skymuster, which launched on October 1st, 2015.
On the weekend, it was packed securely into a sophisticated shipping container and loaded onto a plane, destined for Moffett Federal Airfield ahead of the launch on October 5th, 2016.
Once in orbit, Skymuster 2 will float at around 36,000km from earth and is one of the world’s largest communications satellites, weighing in at 6,400kgs.
It's a truck! It's a crane! It's a #satellite! It's an Antonov! It's #skymuster2 on the road. #nbn #broadbandforall pic.twitter.com/lHBfcvzsFJ
— karina keisler (@karinakeisler) August 30, 2016
G'day, mate! The latest French Guiana arrival: @NBN_Australia's #SkyMuster II for #Ariane5 Flight #VA231 in October pic.twitter.com/7zxIO3Tev7
— Stéphane Israël (@arianespaceceo) August 30, 2016
Loading #skymuster2 #satellite on Antonov AN-24 from Moffett Federal Airfield – she's on! #nbn #broadband #tech pic.twitter.com/xa73qdFIvc
— karina keisler (@karinakeisler) August 30, 2016
And she's off! #skymuster2 headed for French Guiana. First stop Houston, Texas for fuel #nbn #satellite #rockets pic.twitter.com/3vNX91YYCE
— karina keisler (@karinakeisler) August 30, 2016
Here’s a couple of shots of the antenna array, deployed during testing back in June this year.
Our gorgeous 2nd #satellite in the Compact Antenna Test Range #SkyMuster2 #nbn She's a beauty! @sslmda @Arianespace pic.twitter.com/7PvDp2avAm
— karina keisler (@karinakeisler) June 8, 2016
According to the latest Weekly update from nbn, there are now 414,011 premesis that could get a connection to the NBN via satellite, while 47,181, actually have taken up that option and are active customers.
