Viasat's new free space optical communication
terminal is designed to deliver high-performance and resilient
connectivity in contested environments
CARLSBAD, Calif., April 6,
2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Viasat Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT),
a global communications company, today announced that it debuted
its new Mercury Free Space Optical Communications (FSOC) terminal
during the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) Technical
Experimentation (TE) event on March 21,
2023 in Avon Park, Florida.
SOCOM conducts TE events across the
United States with participation from government, academia,
and private industry organizations, providing a unique opportunity
for technology developers to interact with the Special Operations
Forces community. The new free space optics (FSO) solution was
designed to support terrestrial, expeditionary applications,
including SOCOM use cases.
![Viasat Debuts Mercury Expeditionary Free Space Optical Communications Terminal Viasat Debuts Mercury Expeditionary Free Space Optical Communications Terminal](https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2048643/Viasat_Debuts_Mercury.jpg)
The Viasat Mercury solution is an expeditionary, high-capacity
FSOC link with an automated pointing, acquisition, and tracking
(PAT) system, offering military operators lower signature
communications at the quick-halt. Mercury is based upon advanced
commercial-off-the-shelf technology, leveraging substantial
industry investment towards bringing a high-performance, resilient,
and cost-effective capability to better support warfighting
operations at the edge.
The Mercury terminal integrates state-of-the-art optical
terminal technology with an industry-leading PAT gimbal and
user-oriented control and management interface to offer a FSOC
system that will offer substantially higher range and throughput
than other solutions in the tactical environment. The Viasat FSOC
solution will deliver data rates up to 40 Gigabits per second
(Gbps), have a range of up to 70 Kilometers (km) for terrestrial
applications, and be highly resistant to jamming, spoofing and
electro-magnetic interference when compared to RF systems. By
leveraging a dual-stage continuous active line-of-sight tracking
system, Mercury will be deployable to support multiple
expeditionary communications environments including
Ground-to-Ground, Ground-to-Air, Ship-to-Ship, and
Ship-to-Shore.
"We are very excited about the debut of the Mercury FSOC
terminal during the SOCOM TE event and sharing the unique
capability it can bring to edge communications. Free Space Optics
offers the benefits of fiber optic cable communications without the
need to run the cable," said Craig
Miller, president of Viasat Government Systems. "As the U.S.
Department of Defense (DoD) seeks to gain an advantage through
increasingly reliable and low detection communications, we are
investing in FSO as part of a resilient multi-transport network.
The Mercury terminal is designed as a high-capacity and low-cost
solution for the DoD, and this is the first platform for
terrestrial use as we continue to invest in comms-on-the-move
capabilities across sea, air and space."
Viasat developed the Mercury terminal to address DoD requests
for FSO capabilities that will enable warfighters to operate
high-bandwidth links across significant distances in an LPI/LPD
environment. Modern electronic warfare effects can disrupt radio
frequency communications in contested near-peer environments, but
FSO offers a communications pathway outside the RF spectrum.
Visit the Viasat website for more information on Viasat the
Mercury terminal and FSOC solutions.
About Viasat
Viasat is a global communications
company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be
connected. For more than 35 years, Viasat has helped
shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around
the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the
ultimate global communications network to power high-quality,
secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people's lives
anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn
more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go
to Viasat's Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on
social media
at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains
forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbors
created under the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include, among
others, statements about the capabilities, features and
benefits of the Mercury Free Space Optical Communications terminal
to be offered by Viasat. Readers are cautioned that actual
results could differ materially and adversely from those expressed
in any forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ include: new and increasingly sophisticated
cybersecurity attacks; contractual problems, product or software
defects, regulatory issues, technologies that do not perform
according to expectations; delays in approving U.S. government
budgets and cuts in government defense expenditures; and increased
competition and other factors affecting the government and defense
sectors generally. In addition, please refer to the risk factors
contained in Viasat's SEC filings available
at www.sec.gov, including Viasat's most recent
Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on any
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on
which they are made. Viasat undertakes no obligation to
update or revise any forward-looking statements for any reason.
Copyright © 2023 Viasat, Inc. All rights reserved. Viasat,
the Viasat logo and the Viasat signal are registered trademarks of
Viasat, Inc. All other product or company names mentioned are used
for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their
respective owners.
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SOURCE Viasat, Inc.