Viasat in talks with Indian startups to build mini geostationary satellites

Miniaturised GEO satellites could reshape connectivity in India and attract demand from over 20 countries

In what could kick off a price war, California-headquartered satellite giant Viasat, Inc is in talks with Indian startups to jointly manufacture miniaturised geostationary (GEO) satellites in India. The goal: enable users to buy broadband bandwidth at a lower price than what low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite players currently offer domestically and globally. Globally, companies like Starlink, Eutelsat, OneWeb, and Telesat operate on LEO constellations.

 

While GEO satellites orbit over 35,786 kilometres (km) above the equator, LEO satellites circle between 500 km and 2,000 km above Earth’s surface.

 

The key advantage of small GEO satellites is their targeted coverage. Unlike