SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku offers a perfect balance between form factor and performance (photo: Cobham)

Cobham has announced that a Ku-band version of its award-winning SAILOR 60-cm antenna technology platform will be available this Summer. As one of the lightest, most compact and high-performing Ku-band antennas ever developed, SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku is designed to enable more vessels to enjoy the benefits of faster, flexible and predictable pay-monthly Ku-band VSAT services.

SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku offers a perfect balance between form factor and performance, enabling maritime satcom service providers to extend their portfolio and reach more end-users with a compact, hard-wearing solution that provides the reliability, stability and high throughput normally only possible with 1 meter class antennas.

SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku features the capability to roam between Ku-band wide beams and spot beams, providing additional flexibility for service providers to offer global service availability despite the small antenna size. While providing unmatched performance on traditional Ku-band wide beam satellites, SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku leverages the power of forthcoming Ku-band High Throughput Satellite (HTS) constellations utilising spot beams, such as Intelsat’s Epic^NG.

Based on a cutting-edge lightweight carbon fibre composites/aluminium design, SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku is incredibly easy to handle and can be installed without the need for a crane in port. As one of the lightest Ku-band 60cm antennas, it introduces the potential for fast and cost-effective installation while retaining the performance and reliability of larger SAILOR VSAT antennas.

Cobham SATCOM’s newest VSAT antenna is based on the cutting-edge, software defined SAILOR VSAT technology platform, which has revolutionised the maritime satcom industry’s approach to VSAT installation and operation. It offers several key differences to standard VSAT antennas, including the ability to configure dual antenna installations without the need for additional hardware. This can reduce costs significantly for some vessels, where two antennas may be required to ensure a link to the satellite should one be ‘blocked’ by the vessel’s superstructure or nearby structures such as oil platforms.

The SAILOR VSAT technology platform also provides unique diagnostics and automatic event reporting helping service providers to increase service reliability. The use of SNMP Traps, which improve the reporting of antenna events to shore and the introduction of real-time event reporting support service providers to meet SLAs and end-users to enjoy uninterrupted connectivity. The latest software features are included with SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku, including Shock and Vibration Monitoring, which provides valuable data on the stresses the antenna system is under, helping with planned maintenance and ultimately availability of service.

“The new SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku is enabling service providers to meet the growing demand for high-speed maritime broadband on a wider range of vessel types and size,” says Jens Ewerling, Director, Maritime Broadband, Cobham SATCOM. “Our world-class engineering team has designed a whole new high performance RF package to ensure that the SAILOR 600 VSAT Ku can be deployed anywhere in the world, giving even smaller vessels on rough sees a viable VSAT solution that delivers the performance needed for today’s demanding, data-centric maritime applications and crew communication.”

Tags: Cobham