After years of seeing a gap in the market, Satcube decided to act. Its mission was clear – to develop game-changing terminals and services to enable high-speed broadband anywhere, quickly and cost-effectively. Thanks to the development of its trailblazing products and services, this achievement was realised through Satcube Ku, released into the market in 2017.
Offering users the ability to create an easy-to-use Wi-Fi hotspot that provides high-speed broadband in under two minutes, Satcube Ku enables execution of critical on-the-spot work assignments and communication. “As an example,” explains Robert Mellberg, chief commercial officer at Satcube, “in Ukraine right now, we are used by leading media companies like CBS News or ABC News, but also the Red Cross with field hospitals and various intelligence organisations, and also military interests.”
Weighing in at only 8kg, the all-in-one compact carry-on satellite terminal is the size of a large laptop offering high speeds of up to 20Mbps with next-generation HTS and wide-beam Ku. “This product is based on the idea that you shouldn't be an engineer at all, you can be a normal user. If you can use a mobile phone, you can use Satcube, and so within two minutes you can have broadband connectivity,” says Mellberg.
The product provides connectivity for a wide range of users, from media, emergency response, law enforcement to military operations and telemedicine, for example. “No matter what kind of operations you’re in, if you’re a journalist or health worker, or when you’re going to remote places where you need data, I would say the data consumption and how you use that is the key for why we did this.”
Secure satellite comms
In addition to the Satcube Ku comes the Satcube Ku 950 Secure. At an only slightly higher weight of 9.5kg, the portable Wi-Fi hotspot enables enhanced performance, efficiency and security with FIPS140-2 level 3 certification and supports one-way and two-way TRANSEC for mission-critical communications.
Alongside these product offerings, the company also offers Satcube Instant, a global online rental service that delivers a ready-to-use Satcube Ku terminal where needed. “Instant is a rental service because we can see that, for example, media companies’ needs can vary, as we say, instantly – it could be an earthquake in a country or a war breaking out, or something else where they say ‘we need this now’,” explains Mellberg. “So, within 24 hours we can give them the terminal plus capacity included, so it’s kind of an introduction service to Satcube. So, people can use our technology without investing in buying a terminal.” “This a civilian product,” he adds, “but militaries happen to like it […] they have needs wherever they go with it so they can coordinate their operations.”
Global presence
Announced in 2020, Satcube also partnered with Intelsat on its FlexMove service to deliver its Satcube Ku terminal. “We work with this service provider on this service because they are present in 190 countries, meaning that together with the Satcube Ku terminal and six new servers, this global connectivity applies everywhere,” adds Mellberg.
With projects across the globe – with five in Ukraine, three active projects in Mali and clients such as UNHCR to monitor migrant patterns – the company’s technology is indeed widespread. But as technology continues to change, Satcube is determined to keep up.
“We can see now that the satellite industry is really changing very fast with new Leo constellations, like the Starlink, OneWeb and Amazon Kuiper,” Mellberg explains. “So Satcube looks at how we can create the leading portable terminals for these constellations and also how we now go from portables to producing mobility terminals for vehicles and enterprise terminals for fixed terminals [TV antenna].”
