Satellite operators

Satellite operators are the companies that build, launch and operate satellites, and they are in business to make money by operating satellites to provide telecommunication services. Before they can earn a single dollar in revenue from the use of a satellite, an operator will have to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to build the satellite, launch it by rocket into orbit, and get it working. Once it is in orbit, it costs money year on year to operate a ground control facility and keep the satellite flying for around 15 years.

We will look briefly at who actually operates the satellites, describing some of the principal global and regional satellite systems, focussing on those that allow access for SNG, and how these can be accessed by SNG uplinks. It is not possible here to detail every satellite that is in orbit, for the information changes quite often – it is best to consult the satellite operators directly, many of whom publish their current fleets on their websites. It is also important to note that information for any satellite system we do give here is only current as at the time of writing, and will probably have changed by the time you read this.

Overall, there are more regional systems than global systems. Apart from carrying SNG traffic (which is a relatively minor proportion of their traffic), these systems carry services such as:

Many satellites are in orbit to provide only these other services and do not cater for the SNG market at all. The range of services is wide, and the demand in all these areas is growing, feeding a multi-billion dollar global industry.

It is also worth noting that some organizations both operate their own satellites and lease capacity on a long-term basis on other satellite systems as well, usually in order to provide as diverse offering of services and wide area of coverage as possible.

All satellite system operators, whatever their size, are aiming to provide as much of a ‘one-stop shop’ for their customers, whether it be purely regional service, or where trans-global connectivity is required. So let us look at a few of the main players.

Intelsat

We will begin with Intelsat, which was the first satellite system available for trans-global commercial use, and was also the first system that allowed international access for SNG. As the first global commercial satellite system, it still holds a commanding position in the global market, but has come under intense pressure from competition from other systems in the last 15 years. The early history of Intelsat is closely bound up with US dominance in satellite communications.

Intelsat remains the primary provider of services to developing nations and more remote areas of the globe. Intelsat currently has a fleet of over 20 high-powered spacecraft in geostationary orbit, and its Operations Center (IOC) is in Washington DC. But it is not the largest operator.

SES Global

Following the acquisition of GE Americom by SES in 2001, SES Global has a fleet of 42 satellites at the time of writing. However, not all of these satellites are available for SNG – some are exclusively for DTH broadcasting. The GE Americom fleet of satellites holds a dominant position in North America.

PanAmSat

Originally the first privately owned international satellite operator with the launch of its first satellite in 1987, PanAmSat merged with the Hughes Communications Galaxy domestic US satellite system in 1996, to form a global fleet to challenge Intelsat. PanAmSat now has a fleet of 23 satellites in orbit, and its IOC (International Operations Center) is in Homestead, Florida.

Eutelsat

The European Telecommunications Satellite Organisation (Eutelsat) was founded in 1977 to develop a European regional satellite system. Originally membership criteria for countries were that they were a sovereign state, European and a member of the ITU. Eutelsat was formally established as an inter-governmental organization in 1985. While Eutelsat is nominally a regional satellite operator, its fleet of 19 satellites span North America in the west to India in the east, so in reality it is a supra-regional operator. Like Intelsat, Eutelsat privatized in July 2001, with telecommunications and media companies from 48 different countries as shareholders.

Eutelsat’s control centre (CSC) is in Paris. As with Intelsat, Eutelsat requires uplinks wishing to operate onto their capacity to fulfil performance criteria similar to Intelsat, and be registered with them.

Other operators

Satellite operators constitute a dynamic business, made even more challenging by consolidation and new entrants, globalization and the search for more added value in service provision. This in turn is applying pressure on spectrum, and the result of this is that the number of geostationary satellites is increasing, with virtually all the satellite system operators expanding their fleets. There is also an increasing number of mergers and strategic alliances being formed to try to dominate as much of the market as possible.

Europe

The European market is smaller than the North American market, with SES Astra and Eutelsat being the primary operators for the region. France Telecom operates the Telecom series of satellites, Loral operates Europe*Star, Spanish operator Hispasat operates the Hispasat series and Norwegian operator Telenor operates the Thor series. Some of these companies also operate capacity on Intelsat and Eutelsat capacity, but all are important providers for SNG capacity within Europe. However, without doubt the principal SNG space segment provider within Europe is Eutelsat.

Other regional satellite operators

In other regions of the world, there are a number of regional systems, some of which are wholly or partially owned by some of the global operators.

In the Middle East and North Africa region, the principal regional providers are Arabsat, Nilesat and Turksat.

In the Asia-Pacific region, the principal regional providers are AsiaSat, Apstar and JCSAT.

In South America, Nahuelsat operates a private commercial satellite system covering Argentina and other Latin-American countries, while the Solidaridad satellites cover Central America.

It is difficult to adequately cover the current situation in a book as satellites are launched and taken out of service. All you need to remember is that within virtually any region, space segment resource is generally available from either a regional or a global satellite operator.