July 2, 2020 – Optus announced a giant leap in its satellite business, confirming a contract with Airbus Defence and Space for a brand new, OneSat software-defined satellite, Optus 11, to be deployed for Australia and New Zealand in 2023 at the current Optus D1 orbital location of 160°East. Optus has entered into a revised agreement with Sky New Zealand which will be the cornerstone customer leveraging the new satellite. Optus will be the first satellite operator in Asia Pacific to launch a software-defined satellite that can provide both flexible concurrent broadcast and broadband services via a very high throughput satellite (VHTS) design. The game-changing satellite is fully configurable in space, meaning its location, coverage, bandwidth and capacity can be changed in orbit as customer demands evolve – where traditional satellites are limited by on-ground configurations that cannot be altered after launch. Sitting 36,000km above Earth, Optus 11 is also able to host a satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) payload – which has the ability to greatly enhance the accuracy and precision of existing GPS and positioning systems across the ANZ region and pinpoint a location to within a decimetre, without the need for mobile or internet coverage. Optus 11 will join five other Optus satellites in orbit and expands Optus’ geo-stationary satellite fleet to become the largest in the company’s and Australia’s history. Optus will be the first operator in the world to utilise the Ku band (11-14GHz) spectrum for the software defined VHTS in both broadcast and broadband services. Optus 11 will also provide greater coverage than our previous satellites, with a reach from Antarctica to the Cocos Islands and covering a vast majority of the Pacific region. It will have the ability to cover oceans previously out of reach to Optus and provide tracking spot beams coverage to planes and vessels anywhere within the Optus 11 footprint. Optus provides satellite services to Australia and NZ Government departments, companies and broadcasters including Foxtel, ABC, SBS, Seven Network, regional broadcasters such as Imparja Television, Sky New Zealand and Kordia, in addition to services in McMurdo Sound, Antarctica.