Telenor delivers Ka-band maritime connectivity

Telenor provides a regional Ka-band VSAT service to maritime users over its Thor 7 satellite. It was launched into geostationary orbit from the Guiana Space Centre, in French Guiana, on an Ariane 5 launcher in April 2015.

This Space Systems Loral (SSL)-manufactured satellite provides VSAT connectivity with coverage over the North, Norwegian and Barents seas, the Baltic Sea, Mediterranean and the Red Sea and the Middle East. There is also a single spot beam for a Norwegian research base in Antarctica.

SSL included both a high throughput Ka-band payload and one for Ku-band widebeam on Thor 7. The satellite provides regional coverage with a favourable look-angle over the main European shipping lanes and uses relatively small spot beams for commercial shipping, fishing vessels and offshore support vessels.

Services are supported by iDirect's Velocity platform that enables Telenor to offer virtual network operations and automatic and seamless hand-overs between spot beams. Bandwidth available over Thor 7 includes uplink speeds between 2 Mbps to 6 Mbps, depending on the antenna size. Telenor offers a range of fixed service packages for maritime VSAT connectivity.

Telenor operates a teleport outside Oslo, Norway for maritime VSAT over its Ku-band and Thor 7 satellites, and for broadcast services across Scandinavia.

Thor 7 specifications

Mass: 1,800 kg

Width: 9.5 m

Height: 5.5 m

Length: 24.8 m

Orbital location: 1¢ª West

Service life: 15 years

Payload:

• Ka-band for maritime broadband services
• 30 spot beams
• 1 spot beam for Antarctica
• 1 steerable spot beam

Coverage: maritime areas surrounding Europe