Sky Muster™ II blasts into space

nbn launches second satellite to boost regional broadband services 
 

nbn today successfully launched its second broadband satellite, Sky Muster™ II into orbit at 7.30am Australian Eastern Daylight Time.
                                

Blasting 36,000kms into space from French Guiana Space Centre in South America, the satellite will play a critical role in providing access to fast broadband for around 400,000 Australian homes and businesses.
 

Over the coming months it will undergo final technical testing and will soon provide additional data capacity to nbn’s first satellite Sky Muster™ I, which is already helping to bridge the digital divide for thousands of Australians.
 

nbn’s Chief Executive Officer, Bill Morrow said:
 

“Today’s successful launch of Sky Muster™ II marks the next step in delivering our world-leading satellite broadband service. This service is already helping to improve healthcare outcomes by connecting remote patients to city specialists, delivering access to a new world of educational opportunities for kids in the bush and increasing productivity for local small businesses.
 

“We are ensuring that no Australian is left behind by providing access to fast broadband for those who need it the most.”
 

Representing the millions of people who will be connected to the new broadband network, nbn ran a competition offering the chance for Australians to have their face featured on a mosaic-style artwork placed on the nose cone of the rocket, which launched Sky Muster™ II into space.
 

Sally Coady, from Canowindra in New South Wales was one of the lucky winners. Her mind was sent into an intergalactic spin today as she watched her selfie blast into orbit after the rocket’s successful lift-off.
 

“Watching the launch was an extremely exciting moment as I believe the satellite will open up so many possibilities for country families like us.
 

“Knowing that we will soon have our nbn™ Sky Muster service up and running gives me peace of mind as it will allow my children to access online educational resources from home, which will help them to stay competitive with kids in the city,” she said.
 

To give all Australians the opportunity to ‘blast their face into space’ nbn is inviting the nation to use a special Snapchat lens and create a short video of themselves in space suit counting down to Sky Muster™ II rocket launch moment.  
 

People can activate the nbn Snapchat lens by following the below steps:

1. Open the Snapchat app and ensure the camera screen is front-facing and in ‘selfie-mode’.

2. Tap and hold your face until a white mask appears then press on the nbn logo on the bottom of the screen for it to appear on your face.

3. Raise your eyebrows to activate the lens and start the countdown to launch.

4. Tap the capture button to take an image or press and hold on the capture button to record a video.
 

Visit our nbn™ blog series to learn more about how nbn’s Sky Muster™ service is changing the face of regional and rural Australia.
 

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Notes to editors

• nbn is building a new and upgraded, fast wholesale broadband network to enable communities across Australia to access fast broadband. Our goal is to connect eight million homes and businesses by 2020.
• nbn’s Sky Muster™ satellite service will be available to more than 400,000 premises with around 250,000 homes and businesses are expected to connect to the service via their Retail Service Provider (RSP).
• nbn’s Sky Muster™ satellite service is designed to deliver wholesale broadband speeds of up to 25 Mbps download and up to 5 Mbps upload to retail service providers.
• End user experience, including the speeds actually achieved over the nbn™ network, depends on the technology over which services are delivered to your premises and some factors outside our control like equipment quality, software, broadband plans, signal quality and how the end user’s service provider designs its network. 

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