The plan will see the Melbourne-based telco build a landing station in NSW and provide fibre connectivity, while Telesat will begin launching satellites in late 2026.
Vocus said a new LEO network was “important for Australia” given recent outages of digital infrastructure globally.
“Having multiple LEO satellite providers available will give Australian organisations even better protection from digital infrastructure disasters happening again,” it said. “Different networks and different providers used in combination mean outages in one won’t bring everything down.”
Low-Earth orbit (LEO) satellite constellations, such as Starlink, offer quicker services than traditional geostationary satellites, such as NBN Sky Muster, because they are closer to Earth.
The lower height, though, also means LEOs effectively cover a smaller area and, therefore, need to operate in larger, connected constellations to be effective.
Starlink, a subsidiary of SpaceX, is the market leader and has the advantage of being able to launch thousands of satellites without paying external customers because it operates its own reusable rockets.
The deal between Vocus and Telesat will also see the telco gain access to use the LEO service, branded Telesat Lightspeed, when it becomes operational.
PROMOTED CONTENT
Vocus said a unique feature of Telesat Lightspeed would be its “terminal-to-terminal direct connectivity capability”, which eliminates the need for terrestrial links for customers transmitting especially sensitive information.
Ashley Neale, Vocus’ head of space and wireless operations, revealed it could potentially enable a naval ship to communicate directly with soldiers on the ground via the optical laser-linked space network, bypassing land-based infrastructure or the public internet.
“This capability will be extremely valuable to customers with mission-critical communications requirements and a desire to preserve data sovereignty even outside of Australia’s geographic borders,” he said.
The news significantly comes weeks after Amazon launched its first tranche of 27 ‘Project Kuiper’ satellites, also designed to rival Starlink.
Amazon initially launched two prototype satellites on a ULA rocket in October 2023 and hailed the mission as a “100 per cent success”.
The new constellation of spacecraft features upgrades, including phased array antennas, solar arrays and optical inter-satellite links.
Over the next few years, Kuiper and ULA teams will conduct seven more Atlas V launches and 38 launches on ULA’s larger Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Moving forward, an additional 30-plus launches are planned using launch providers Arianespace, Blue Origin and SpaceX, to complete a final constellation of 3,200.
The lift-off comes alongside speculation that the federal government will pick the service to replace NBN’s beleaguered geostationary satellites that provide internet to remote areas of Australia.
Adam Thorn
Adam is a journalist who has worked for more than 40 prestigious media brands in the UK and Australia. Since 2005, his varied career has included stints as a reporter, copy editor, feature writer and editor for publications as diverse as Fleet Street newspaper The Sunday Times, fashion bible Jones, media and marketing website Mumbrella as well as lifestyle magazines such as GQ, Woman’s Weekly, Men’s Health and Loaded. He joined Momentum Media in early 2020 and currently writes for Australian Aviation and World of Aviation.
Receive the latest developments and updates on Australia’s space industry direct to your inbox. Subscribe today to Space Connect here.
