Satellite industry resumes oxygen in Mexico; IFT analysis

Telecommunications services, mainly internet in remote areas, are reviving the satellite industry in Mexico, adding to the interest of the president-elect in placing a new satellite into orbit for connectivity services.

“In recent years, the satellite industry has been breathing new life into the industry, particularly through non-geostationary satellites, and we are seeing commercial initiatives,” said Alejandro Navarrete, head of the IFT Radio Spectrum Unit.

Companies such as Hughes Net and Starlink are some of the companies that entered the Mexican market to compete in the satellite internet offering.

Virtual president-elect Claudia Sheinbaum aims to put a new satellite into orbit by 2027.

“We are proposing that from here there is a potential for the development of free internet and our objective in 2027, when the possibility of having a new Mexican satellite expires, we are seeing, we do not lose hope, that it will be a Mexican satellite that can be launched into space,” Sheinbaum said before businessmen.

Currently, Financiera para el Bienestar, formerly Telecomunicaciones de México, operates in the orbital position 113° West in the L Band for mobile satellite service with an estimated useful life until 2035 and in the position 114.9° West is the Mexsat of Financiera para el Bienestar and uses the extended Ku Band, the extended L and C, fixed satellite service with an estimated useful life until 2030.

“These satellites are already in operation, if for some reason their useful life had decreased, it would probably be possible to think about launching a replacement satellite for one of these orbital positions prior to the estimated useful life,” Navarrete mentioned.

Daniel Losada, vice president of international sales for Hughes, said Mexico has experience in managing satellites and can launch its own.

“Mexico can choose, it is also a decision of resources, of human resources, it is not easy to get this type of engineers, if you do not have them and you have not kept them, you have to try to create a team,” commented the director of the satellite company.

What the government can do is a transfer of government to train a group of engineers to do that, he added.

“It is an important step for Mexico to enter the generation of HTS satellites, which will surely be what this satellite will be like. We will be working hand in hand with the council that is in charge of designing this satellite because we are providers of the technology to make this type. of projects,” said Losada.

There are two categories of satellites: geostationary satellites that are in a fixed position on the Earth’s surface, such as those used for satellite television services; of which Mexico has several positions with commercial and public satellites in operation.

Additionally, there are non-geostationary satellites that are in a position outside the equatorial plane so that the satellite moves and are generally satellite constellations.

“This last category has gained a lot of attention in recent years and there are many commercial initiatives that operate in the country and different parts of the world providing access to the internet,” the official commented.

An example of this type of satellite constellations that offer internet is Elon Musk’s Starlink offering.

Mexico has geostationary orbital positions but not the non-geostationary type, Navarrete clarified.

However, through authorizations of landing rights for signals in Mexican territory, companies can provide this type of services.

Currently, various satellite industry companies operate in Mexico, which from January to September 2023 generated revenues of 708 million 892 thousand 483 pesos, according to data from the IFT.