Freight Space Enquiry - Have You Got Any (Or Do You Go There)

US – KAZAKHSTAN – Stage one, deliver the cargo from California to the borders of the Caspian Sea, usual hassle, don’t know the weight exactly, cube is probably about 40 m3 looking at that photo, phone a project forwarder and ask the client can it be laid down, there’s bound to be a bridge or two on the way. That however is the easy part.

Stage two is the 14th November launch from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan aboard an International Launch Services Proton rocket and off into outer space. The cargo is SkyTerra 1, a Boeing 702HP satellite designed for geomobile services. It will combine with four gateway ground stations and ground-based beam-forming equipment to create the first of two Space-Based Networks (SBN) that Boeing is building for LightSquared (formerly SkyTerra).

LightSquared is building a new wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE wireless broadband network integrated with satellite coverage that will revolutionize communications in the United States. This, in case that last bit lost you, means the latest enhancement to those mobile and cellular devices so many of us now rely on, plus those not invented yet. Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems explains:

"The shipment of the SkyTerra 1 satellite is an important step toward bringing LightSquared and its mobile wireless partners services that are accessible anytime, anywhere, throughout the United States. Boeing's experience in space-based systems solutions and integrated ground assets will enable LightSquared to provide new services in new markets."

Designed to provide wireless mobile services to millions of subscribers, LightSquared’s SkyTerra 1 satellite features a 22-metre L-band reflector-based antenna, the largest commercial antenna reflector to be put into service. The active phased-array antenna will offer state-of-the-art digital signal processing, channel formation and switching.

LightSquared's mission is to revolutionize the U.S. wireless industry. Through the creation of the first-ever wholesale-only nationwide 4G-LTE network complemented by satellite coverage, LightSquared offers people the speed, value and reliability of universal broadband connectivity, wherever they are in the United States. Through its wholesale-only business model, those without their own wireless network or who have limited geographic coverage or spectrum can develop and sell devices, applications and services using LightSquared's open 4G network, at a competitive cost and without retail competition from LightSquared.

So that’s it, another extra terrestrial logistics story, from laying telegraphic cables under the ocean and posting copper wires across the plains the future of freight supplies the future of communications (once again).