The company successfully launched its first satellite Wednesday as a first step toward building its $9 billion wireless Internet access system, getting a jump on competitors like Motorola's M-Star. The launch was kept secret until Thursday.
The low-earth-orbit satellite, dubbed the T1, will be used to test factors like atmospheric drag and power control ahead of launching Teledesic's satellite network, which is set to begin in 2001. Teledesic says it should begin offering broadband Internet access -- up to 64 megabits-per-second downstream -- by the end of 2002.
That downstream speed (transmission speed from the satellite) is about 2,000 times faster than a standard dialup connection. "It's the satellite equivalent of fiber-optics," said Teledesic representative Roger Nyhus.
The flight of the T1 marks the first successful launch of a commercial low-earth-orbit (LEO), Ka-band satellite. Analysts expect Ka-band satellites to be at the heart of next-generation, broadband Internet services.
Teledesic's network of 288 satellites will orbit at around 850 miles up, compared with 25,000 miles up for the geostationary satellites commonly used for television now. Each LEO will cover less territory than a single high-orbit satellite, but the lower orbit eliminates the half-second delay that makes geostationary satellites unsuitable for Internet access.
The T1 launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base on a Pegasus rocket, which takes off from underneath an L-1011 airplane, which is about the size of a jumbo jet. The launch rocket "performed well," said Barron Beneski of Orbital Sciences, which launched the T1.
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See video of rocket taking off
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Teledesic will cater mostly to high-end users with need of extremely high-speed access, according to Nyhus. It will focus on the areas not already reached by land-lines, like suburban and rural areas in the developed world, and anywhere in the developing world. "This is a way for the telecommunications companies to extend their fiber nets to places that wouldn't get them any other way," Nyhus said.
Computers will access the system through a notebook-sized antenna fixed to the building. The antenna could be moved, but Teledesic is not intended as a mobile system.
The company has received plenty of skepticism from industry analysts, who argue Teledesic's system is too expensive and too risky. It depends, after all, on putting expensive satellites on top of a rocket.
Teledesic has several competitors for what it calls "Internet-in-the-sky." Hughes Network Systems already offers Internet access up to 400K-bps with its DirecPC service, but the uplink still relies on a telephone line.
Motorola has two satellite projects in the works: M-Star uses low-orbit satellites and Iridium takes a higher orbit. Loral Corp.'s CyberStar will initially include three geostationary satellites over Asia, Europe and the U.S.
Gates and McCaw each own one-third of Teledesic; Gates is a private investor, while McCaw is the company's chairman and co-CEO.
