Business
Viasat Partners with the Centre for Appropriate Technology Ltd and Indigenous Business Australia to Build a Real-Time Earth Ground Station in Australia
MELBOURNE, Australia, June 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its existing presence in Australia, Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications
About this update from Viasat, Inc.
[{"type":"text","content":" MELBOURNE, Australia, June 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Building on its existing presence in Australia, Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, announced today its plans to launch a Real-Time Earth (RTE) facility in Alice Springs, Australia. Viasat has partnered with the Centre for Appropriate Technology Ltd (CfAT), an Aboriginal not-for-profit science and technology company based in Alice Springs, which will build and own the facility through its wholly-owned commercial subsidiary CfAT Satellite Enterprises Pty Ltd, and Indigenous Business Australia (IBA), an Australian Commonwealth commercially-focused government authority, which will help finance the project and provide related commercial advice and support.\nThis multi-million dollar investment in Alice Springs will enable Central Australia to be a key player in the burgeoning global satellite and space industry, and Indigenous Australians to be leading participants in the sector. The investment is also strongly aligned with the priorities for the Australian Space Agency which is seeking to increase opportunities within Australia's space industry and develop world-leading core satellite infrastructure.\nThe Viasat RTE system will be a hybrid space and ground network that is expected to bring affordability and reduced latency to earth observation and remote sensing applications. The Viasat RTE network is typically used by low earth orbit (LEO) satellite operators to bring end-users—environmental, shipping, oil and gas, government among other industries—access to data on demand without the need to invest in a dedicated antenna system.\nDr. Steve Rogers, CEO of CfAT Ltd said, \"Working with Viasat and IBA on the development of the RTE facility demonstrates the capacity of CfAT to continue to contribute positively to technology and critical space advancements in outback Australia. The development will provide a positive contribution to the local economy through contract opportunities for local businesses during the facility construction phase, and ongoing employment opportunities for local Aboriginal people once operational—as the CfAT facilities management team will be providing on-going site maintenance.\" \n\"IBA's investment in Viasat's RTE facility alongside our Indigenous partner, CfAT, is a light-house project that shows the world that Aborignal people c...