Eutelsat Group announces it has launched low Earth orbit services in Antarctica for British Antarctic Survey (BAS), a world-leading centre for polar science and polar operations.
Launched in January 2024, the service provides connectivity to the BAS operated Rothera Research Station in Antarctica. Communications and internet connectivity in Antarctica is currently limited to solutions offering at most 1-5 Mbps in both uplink and downlink, despite the significant number of crucial scientific research outposts in the region. Eutelsat OneWeb’s services will deliver significantly increased reliability and data-rates up to 120 Mbps.
In order to deliver services to the Antarctic region, Eutelsat OneWeb developed a proprietary system named TALARIA after the Latin word used to describe the ‘winged sandals’ of Mercury, God of communication. The innovative system includes a ground station in Chile along with a user terminal installed in Rothera Research Station 1,000 miles away. The technology will match the high data use needs of the scientific activities at the research outposts in Antarctica, along with the connectivity needs of the staff based at the stations.
