Viasat announced the opening of a Real-Time Earth (RTE) ground station in Hokkaido, Japan, now enabling RTE customers the ability to downlink Ka-band payload data in the northwestern Pacific at the site hosted by RTE partner Infostellar. This new ground site gives RTE customers unique access to a strategic location that reduces the time it takes to deliver mission-critical data.

Viasat is establishing itself as a global company in Ka-band support for low earth orbit (LEO) missions with its ability to downlink Ka-band payload data with a 7.3m full motion antenna at the Hokkaido site and is postured to support current and future government and commercial satellite programs. For Viasat, the Hokkaido ground station is a vital link in supporting high data rate remote sensing missions in polar and inclined orbits through the RTE network of Ka-band antenna systems.

"We've already proven our ability to rapidly integrate with a civilian space agency to receive Ka-band payloads over our fully automated commercial service and have multiple contracts with commercial satellite operators who understand the value proposition of Ka-band," said Steve Tanous, vice president, Real-Time Earth at Viasat. "Ka-band more than triples the capacity available to downlink earth observation data, compared to traditional high data rate X-band, which translates into more effective and cost-efficient passes for satellite operators."

Tom Pirrone, CEO of Infostellar U.S., Inc added, "Infostellar is very pleased that our partnership with Viasat RTE also now includes an RTE 7.3M S/X/Ka-band antenna at our hosting site in Taiki City located in the Hokkaido Prefecture. This new capability is already producing fruit for both Viasat and Infostellar clients. We look forward to the continued expansion of our partnership services as our companies continue to expand our reach in Japan and around the globe."

The Viasat RTE Ka-band footprint now includes sites in Sweden, Ghana, South Africa, and Australia. RTE plans to expand the Ka-band capability with sites in Alaska and Argentina later this year. RTE offers global S/X-band services at all sites.

Click here to learn more about Viasat's Real Time Earth (RTE) Services.