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Global Maritime Satellite Communications Market Passes $1 Billion in Revenue
Euroconsult, the leading international research and analyst firm specializing in the satellite and space sectors, today forecast that the number of satellite communications terminals aboard commercial and private ships will more than double over the next decade as demand for bandwidth on the high seas continues to surge.
In a new report, “Maritime Telecom Solutions by Satellite: Global Market Analysis & Forecasts,” Euroconsult provides an in-depth view of the dynamics determining growth in the maritime sector, along with analysis and forecasts for the maritime satcom market. The report also offers a detailed review of the merchant shipping, fishing, passenger ship, leisure vessel and offshore segments. The breakdown between MSS and VSAT is explored through each of these sections.
“Increasing onboard bandwidth requirements are driving the maritime market in a direction that is beneficial to satellite communications,” said Pacôme Revillon, CEO of Euroconsult. “Real-time monitoring, remote diagnostics, maintenance, route planning and electronic port declaration are just a few of the applications generating huge capacity demand at sea.”
Euroconsult said the number of terminals used for global maritime satellite communications grew at around 11% in 2009, while wholesale capacity revenues from the sector increased more than 15%. The total size of the market reached about 295,000 active terminals in 2009 that generated more than $1.3 billion in revenues at the tier-1 service provider level. Established MSS services and the emerging VSAT business both contributed to the overall growth of the maritime satellite communications market.
Despite a drop in global maritime activity due to declining economic conditions, increasing demand for operational bandwidth aboard ships as well as Internet connectivity required by crews and passengers have been driving growth. One VSAT provider cited in the report said customers’ monthly data transmission per ship increased from 9.1 gigabytes in April 2009 to 19.7 gigabytes in April 2010.
The global market has been growing rapidly since 2005, with a 14% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in satellite capacity revenues; nearly 4% CAGR in the equipment sales; and 8% CAGR for the global tier-1 service providers.
The fastest growth – 24% annually since 2005 — has been for VSAT services. While VSAT services are not compliant with safety communications needs, they are the mainstay of crew communications and satisfy the increasingly demanding passenger communications needs aboard cruise ships and luxury yachts. Traditional MSS services that operate in the L-band at lower data rates than VSAT terminals (using the C- and Ku-bands) still allow for smaller and cheaper equipment and remain important for safety communications and regulatory obligations. MSS accounted for 97% of the maritime terminals in 2009, but only 52% of service revenues. Euroconsult projects that by 2020, the VSAT market will account for the majority of satellite-based maritime communications revenues generating close to $1 billion in revenues for service providers in 2020.
The report also suggests that the proliferation of new Ka-band based services, which allow much faster upload and download speed than either traditional VSAT or MSS, could expand the maritime market further. Inmarsat, the largest MSS operator, has recently announced the contract for a new constellation of three Ka-band satellites planned to be operational by 2014/2015.
Euroconsult predicts that the maritime satcom market will grow at a healthy rate over the next decade, but not as rapidly as in recent years. Total maritime satcom terminals are expected to grow at a CAGR of about 6% over 2010-2020 while maritime satellite service provider revenues should grow at around 4% annually over the same period, with revenues somewhat impacted by decreasing equipment revenues.
45th anniversary from launching the first Russian communications satellite Molniya-1 is celebrated
In 1961, the Korolev prototype design bureau started research & development of the satellite Molniya-1, which had to transmit one TV program and to provide multi-channel telegraphic and telephonic communications. The General designer of the satellite was M.P. Kappanov. On April 23, 1961 the third in succession and the first successful launch of the soviet communications satellite Molniya-1 took place.
The next day after delivering the satellite into orbit, the communication session via space between Moscow and Vladivostok was performed in the Soviet Union for the first time. B.E. Chertok, one of the immediate participants of developing the satellite, recalls in his book “Rockets and people. Hot days of the cold war”. “W
e checked the operation of the whole communications complex on the Moscow – Vladivostok line with the passion of gamblers that were lucky after a streak of bad luck. We so much wanted to show the 1st May demonstration and the parade on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the Great victory in World War 2 to the Far East and the marine parade of the Pacific navy in Vladivostok to Moscow. And we made it!”
Since 1967 the TV signal translations via Orbita system using the domestic spacecraft of Molniya-1 series became regular. To meet the tasks of establishing communications channels and distributing the state TV&Radio programs through the satellite communications satellite systems, the Union’s TV&Radio Communications Center No.9 was founded in February 1968. With the time it became the main state operator of the space constellation of communications satellites – the Russian Satellite Communications Company.
Ka-band certification enables greater use of Warrior antenna terminals by the U.S. Marine Corps
Two General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies’ Warrior antenna terminals are now certified by the U.S. Army to use the Ka-band frequency to access the Wideband Global SATCOM ( WGS ) network, enabling warfighters to transmit and receive video, multimedia imagery and data faster and more securely.
Certification ensures that the General Dynamics Warrior 1.2 and 1.8 meter, Ka-band enabled terminals meet stringent performance and operational control requirements needed to operate on the WGS network. The WGS network comprises a constellation of six U.S. Department of Defense satellites that provide flexible communications connectivity for U.S. military forces.
Certification, completed by the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command/Army Forces Strategic Command ( SMDC/ARSTRAT ), enables Warrior terminals currently used by the U.S. Marine Corps as part of the Support Wide Area Network ( SWAN ) program to access the WGS network. The SWAN program provides the Marines with secure and non-secure commercial-off-the-shelf satellite communications equipment that can quickly accommodate technology insertions and upgrades like the Ka-band capability.
The higher transmit and receive operating frequencies inherent to Ka-Band allow the SWAN terminals to use smaller, lighter, and more highly integrated communications capabilities than those used at Ku-Band. In addition to a smaller footprint and reduced weight, other benefits of Ka-band over Ku-band for satellite communications include:
- Higher data-rate throughput for improved quality of video, voice and data communications
Reduced space segment cost through the use of the WGS system
Reduced communications interference issues due to dedicated WGS satellite access
“The Warrior 1.2 and 1.8 meter terminals are composed of Very Small Aperture ( VSAT ) antenna subsystems, power amplifiers, Time Division Multiple Access ( TDMA ) modems, automatic tracking control and other related electronic subsystems.
Marvin Shoemake, vice president of sales for General Dynamics SATCOM Technologies, said, “The successful completion of the SMDC/ARSTRAT testing represents a major Ka-band upgrade for the SWAN program. The certification also opens the door for other government agencies, including homeland security, to have robust, beyond-line-of-sight communications using the WGS network.”