Launch Customer Secured, Though Not Identified

Orbit Communication Systems has launched the tri-band Gaia 100 antenna system, and says it has secured an order from an undisclosed customer.

Gaia 100 is the first Earth-observation ground system to include S, X and Ka-band frequencies, the company says. It is capable of tracking “practically any” Earth-observation satellites and enables operators to work in all three bands simultaneously. The systems feature antenna sizes of between 2.4 and 5.5m, and it will track spacecraft in both low and medium Earth orbits.

“Ka-band is becoming more and more essential for high-volume data delivery and in the near future it is expected to become the main frequency band for data download,” Daniel Eshchar, Orbit’s CEO, said in a media release. “Our reputation for advanced solutions is already proven in the first order from a European customer, a growing leader in its field of providing global observation services, which is expanding its infrastructure to supply EO services and launches. They selected Orbit due to our track record of excellent performance and very high reliability in our world-leading systems.”