NBN First Satellite Launch 1 October

Having sought funding to attend the launch of the first of the NBN's satellites from NBN Co and other companies, I'll unfortunately need to follow the Sky Muster launch from Melbourne. Thankfully answers to questions that I have about the satellite and launch will be sought by a couple of the people attending the launch. The satellite launches are a key step to providing enhanced broadband for remote Australians, but every estimate for the number of users and the demand for bandwidth has been far lower than what is likely to eventuate by 2020 so it will be necessary for the NBN Co to put in place rules that limit the monthly data usage and who can access the NBN satellites. A key plank of Labor's NBN, the benefits of the new satellites will be immediately felt across regional and remote Australia and whilst the satellites have limitations the increase in capacity available to remote users will be a positive outcome.

The Communications Department website describes the first of NBN's satellites "blasting off from French Guiana, the new satellite, Sky Muster, will provide internet to more than 200,000 homes and businesses. It will be capable of delivering peak speeds of 25 megabits per second to all users, a huge leap forward compared to what is available today. Weighing in at 6,300 kilograms, Sky Muster will be one of the biggest telecommunications satellite ever launched and will sit in orbit 36,000 km above the surface of the Earth."