NBN First Satellite Launch 1 October
NBN

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."

Mark A Gregory

<p> Mark A Gregory is an Associate Professor in the School of Engineering, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He was born in Melbourne, Australia and received a PhD and a Master of Engineering from RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia in 2008 and 1992 respectively, and a Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical)(Honours) from University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia in 1984.&nbsp;<br> Mark is a former Army officer who spent four years working on major defence projects, and is a director of an engineering consultancy. Dr Gregory is a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers Australia, a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc. His research interests include cyber-security, fiber network design and operation, wireless networks and technical risk. Dr Gregory received an Australian Learning and Teaching Council Citation in 2009.&nbsp;<br> Mark was appointed Managing Editor and Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy in January 2015 and completed a major update of the Journal systems and processes prior to retiring from the Board in January 2021. He has been a regular public policy commentator on telecommunications, especially on the status and future of the National Broadband Network, via the ABC,<em> TheNewDaily, The Australian, Business Spectator, The Conversation and InnovationAus.com&nbsp;</em> </p>

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