Thuraya Satellites
Two Thuraya Satellites were and third one is being built by Boeing Satellite Systems. The satellites are designed for a 12-15 year life. The satellite is equipped with an innovative 40-foot (12.25-meter) L-band transmit-receive reflector provided by TRW Astro Aerospace. The large reflector is combined with Boeing’s on-board digital signal processing to create an active phased-array antenna that allows the spacecraft to create more than 200 spot beams and handle 13,750 simultaneous phone calls. The digital signal processor, five times more capable than any previous Boeing digital processor, has more computing power than 3,000 Pentium III-based computers.
Thuraya 1 (HS-GEM)
Thuraya-1 is the first satellite in the Boeing GEM (Geomobile) series. This product line expands Boeing's offerings beyond satellite manufacturing, to integrate a high-power geosynchronous satellite (derived from the Boeing BSS_702 body-stabilized design) with a ground segment and user handsets, to provide a range of cellular-like voice and data services over a large geographic region. The Thuraya ground segment includes terrestrial gateways plus a collocated network operations center and satellite control facility in the UAE. Thuraya offers GSM-compatible mobile telephone services, transmitting and receiving calls through a single 12.25-meter-aperture reflector. The satellite employs state-of-the-art on-board digital signal processing to create more than 200 spot beams that can be redirected on-orbit, allowing the Thuraya system to adapt to business demands in real time. Calls are routed directly from one handheld unit to another, or to a terrestrial network. The system has the capacity for 13,750 simultaneous voice circuits. Thuraya 1 suffers from a generic failure of the early BSS-702 / GEM model: the fogging of the concentrator mirrors on the solar arrays leads to reduced available power.
Thuraya 2 and 3 (BSS-GEM)
Thuraya-2 and 3 are among the first satellites in the Boeing GEM (Geomobile) series. This product line expands Boeing's offerings beyond satellite manufacturing, to integrate a high-power geosynchronous satellite (derived from the Boeing BSS-702 body-stabilized design) with a ground segment and user handsets, to provide a range of cellular-like voice and data services over a large geographic region. The Thuraya ground segment includes terrestrial gateways plus a collocated network operations center and satellite control facility in the UAE. Thuraya offers GSM-compatible mobile telephone services, transmitting and receiving calls through a single 12.25 meter-aperture reflector. The satellite employs state-of-the-art on-board digital signal processing to create more than 200 spot beams that can be redirected on-orbit, allowing the Thuraya system to adapt to business demands in real time. Calls are routed directly from one handheld unit to another, or to a terrestrial network. The system has the capacity for 13,750 simultaneous voice circuits. Thuraya 2 and 3 have redesigned solar arrays, as the original concentrator arrays have a fogging problem reducing the performance.