Hughes and OneWeb have announced that they have successfully placed equipment to work with their satellite network based on Tula. Now the US military can use high-speed Internet even in the north of Greenland.
High-speed Internet for the US military
On June 22, Hughes Network Systems and OneWeb announced that they had successfully placed a prototype of satellite Internet access equipment at the US Air Force Base Tula. Now the US military will have access to the Internet fast enough to watch videos online or make video calls.
Thule Air Base is located in the north of Greenland, less than 1000 km from the North Pole. In the 1950s, it was built to warn of a missile attack from the Soviet Union. Now there are about 600 personnel at the base.
However, due to its location, Tula has so far remained inaccessible to almost any type of satellite communication. Until now, only Iridium could work with them. But the network bandwidth allowed only telephone communications.
Hughes and OneWeb as competitors of Starlink
The placement of terminal prototypes at the Tula base is part of a research program that Hughes and OneWeb are conducting for the US Air Force Research Laboratory. The contract with it involves the creation of a high-speed Internet system based on a low-orbit satellite constellation. Its price is 3.6 million dollars.
The statement of the companies can be regarded as a new step in the fight against their main competitor — Starlink. Elon Musk’s prompt response to the beginning of war in Ukraine allowed him to get ahead in this race. Because now everyone knows that its terminals work perfectly even in war conditions. And for OneWeb, the situation meant a lot of problems.
However, it looks like Hughes and OneWeb aren’t all finished yet. A week ago, they signed a frequency allocation agreement with Starlink. And a successful extension of the contract with the US Air Force will be a good advertisement for them, which will allow them to move into other areas.
According to spacenews .com
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