Final countdown to first nbn™ satellite launch

There are less than fifty days until nbn will blast its first network satellite 36,000 kilometres into orbit.

Scheduled to launch from Guiana Space Centre in South America on 1 October 2015, Sky Muster is set to progressively deliver fast broadband to more than 200,000 homes and businesses in rural and remote Australia from next year.   

Weighing nearly 6,400 kilograms, it is one of the world’s largest communications satellites and is the first of two nbn will launch into space.

nbn’s  Managing Space Systems Architect, Julia Dickinson, said the satellite will play a crucial role in levelling the playing field between city and bush.

“Many rural and remote Australians do not have access to a quality broadband service and continue to experience dial-up level speeds. Sky Muster will help deliver world-class broadband services to the bush – it will offer better opportunities for distance education online through use of video-conferencing as well as improved access for specialist telehealth applications in the home.”

Based 400km outside of Alice Springs and a student of School of the Air, six-year-old Bailey Brooks won the opportunity to name the satellite through a nationwide nbn drawing competition which invited children to illustrate how the new broadband network will make Australia a better country. 

Bailey, along with her remote classmates, named the satellite Sky Muster to refer to the gathering of cattle and how the satellite will help ‘round-up’ and connect Australians together. Her illustration will also be displayed on the rocket launching the satellite into orbit.

“My drawing shows me on my balcony and the satellite and stars in the sky. I’m very excited to name the satellite and have my drawing put on the rocket and am counting down the days until Sky Muster is sent into space.”

Celebrating one more day towards lift-off, Bailey was today joined by all state winners for the competition at Questacon Science Centre in Canberra which they received as a prize for their winning artworks.

Media enquiries

Jace Armstrong
Mobile: 0417 256 709
Email: jacearmstrong@nbnco.com.au

nbn™ Media Hotline
Phone: 02 9927 4200
Email: media@nbnco.com.au

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Notes to editors

• nbn is building a new, fast broadband network to reach all communities across Australia. Our goal is to connect eight million homes and businesses by 2020.
• nbn’s first satellite is expected to launch from the Guiana Space Centre in Kourou, French Guiana followed by the expected commercial availability of its wholesale Long Term Satellite Service (LTSS) in 2016.
• The LTSS will deliver wholesale broadband speeds of up to 25 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload.
• The exact number of premises covered as well as the regions covered in by LTSS may vary once nbn has finalised its construction planning. 
• More than one million premises can now order fast broadband services via the nbn network – about one in ten homes. Nearly half a million homes are already connected and enjoying the benefits.
• Fast broadband delivered via the nbn network can provide a range of benefits for Australians such as opportunities to work from home, access to online education tools and options for on-demand entertainment.
• The nbn™ network is designed to provide these speeds to our wholesale customers, telephone and internet 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 your equipment quality, software, broadband plans and how your service provider designs its network.
• Access to your work network will depend on factors outside our control like your organisation’s IT policy and infrastructure.

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