LeoSat Enterprises, founded in 2013, was a company planning to launch a constellation of low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellites. Its aim was to provide high-speed, low-latency, and secure data communication services for enterprise and government markets, utilizing laser communication technology. However, LeoSat faced funding challenges and ultimately went out of business in November 2019.
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LeoSat’s revised financing plan calls for $1,000,000,000 in equity and $2,000,000,000 in debt to fund the constellation.
If LeoSat and a manufacturing partner can reduce satellite mass to 800 kg, an entire orbital plane’s worth of satellites would probably fit on a single SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
LeoSat’s six-plane, 14-satellite-per-plane architecture would produce two satellites visible from any point on Earth, including the equator.
LeoSat intends to seek competing bids for launches and prefers launching an entire orbital plane or ring of satellites with one rocket.
LeoSat faces a January 2021 deadline to launch at least one satellite to secure spectrum for the whole constellation through the International Telecommunication Union.
Hispasat and Sky Perfect Jsat made equal, undisclosed investments toward LeoSat’s Series A, which was downsized from $100,000,000 to $50 million, and reneged on a plan to increase their investments.
LeoSat intended to reduce the constellation’s projected $3,500,000,000 price tag to close to $3,000,000,000 under pressure from investors Hispasat and Sky Perfect Jsat.
LeoSat has doubled the planned throughput of each satellite to over 60 gigabits per second on both downlink and uplink.
LeoSat holds $2,000,000,000 worth of letters of intent from customers ready to use the LeoSat constellation once it is operational.
LeoSat is seeking competing bids beyond design partner Thales Alenia Space to build a smaller constellation of lighter satellites.
LeoSat originally planned to launch two demonstration satellites 2019 to fulfill ITU requirements but abandoned those plans in favor of a less expensive ground-based technology-validation effort.
Choosing a manufacturer whose ITU filing expires at a later bring-into-use date would alleviate LeoSat’s January 2021 deadline pressure.
LeoSat has not ruled out hiring Thales Alenia Space to build its scaled-down constellation while also seeking bids from other manufacturers.
LeoSat plans to operate 84 satellites in low Earth orbit arranged in six orbital planes of 14 satellites each.
Efficient launch plans and cheaper manufacturing could reduce LeoSat’s constellation cost below $3,000,000,000.
Thales Alenia Space is a frontrunner to build LeoSat’s constellation of 84 to 108 broadband satellites.
LeoSat is working with manufacturing partners to finalize a low Earth orbit broadband constellation design.
LeoSat is developing a constellation planned to consist of 84 to 108 satellites.
LeoSat proposed a constellation of 108 satellites operating at 1,400 km.
LeoSat is preparing a constellation of 108 low Earth orbit satellites equipped with intersatellite links and projects that its system will be faster than fiber for some long-distance communications.