THOR 7 Ka Band Mobility Service Ready for Launch

Telenor Satellite announced the commercial readiness of its THOR 7 Ka-band mobility service. The Ka-band payload offers regional coverage with a favorable look angle over the main European shipping lanes and utilizes high-powered spot beams, providing unprecedented performance for maritime applications. 

Since the commercial handover of the THOR 7 satellite in June 2015, Telenor Satellite has been carrying out a Ka-band testing program prior to its commercial launch. The final testing phase involved more than 15 customers running sea trials on approximately 30 vessels, with up to 50 remote terminals testing the service across THOR 7’s footprint.

Telenor Satellite’s THOR 7 HTS Ka-band service offer 6-9 Gbps throughput with up to 25 simultaneously active spot beams. Supported by the iDirect next-generation iDirect VelocityTM platform, Telenor Satellite is able to offer automatic and seamless spot-beam handover, assuring continuous connectivity across the entire satellite footprint. 

“Today is a day that we have been very much looking forward to,” said Morten Tengs, CEO of Telenor Satellite. “Telenor Satellite’s THOR 7 Ka-band mobility service has been designed specifically for the maritime market, providing the reliability and availability our customers expect at sea.”

Telenor Satellite’s investment in THOR 7 has provided the additional European growth capacity needed to expand its overall business and to extend its services capability within the mobility VSAT market.