...successful trials of U.S. Department of Defense’s (DoD) compatible Ka-band-capable terminals over the Y1A satellite, exploiting Yahsat’s steerable beam. The significance of the trials, which were enabled by ARTSTRAT Certified SwiftLink® Ka-band terminals from TeleCommunication Systems Inc. (TCS) and primary coordinator Boeing Commercial Satellite Services (BCSS), confirm and bring assurance that the Yahsat satellites and ground systems can successfully accommodate and deliver highly secure transponded and gateway supported military Ka-band frequencies over U.S. DoD-compatible Ka-band terminals. This positions Yahsat as the only commercial satellite provider to have operationally proven its ability to deliver military Ka-band services to government entities in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
The testing, which took place between Yahsat’s headquarters in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and another undisclosed location, using Yahsat’s steerable beam, was conducted on ARTSTRAT certified Swiftlink 2.0 VSAT terminals bundled with iDirect Evolution modems operated by TCS. A number of test applications were successfully implemented, including VoIP, data and full-motion video running concurrently over a secure and encrypted satellite network. In April 2011, Yahsat’s satellite Y1A was successfully launched and positioned in orbit and has been providing satellite communications services for both governmental and commercial customers across the Middle East, Africa, Europe and Asia since. The Yahsat second satellite, Y1B was successfully launched on April 23, 2012.