Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT) has entered the Harwell Science and Innovation Campus’s Space Cluster As part of its hunt for new technology and research alliances. With over 1,400 individuals employed across over 100 business and public sector companies, including the UK Space Agency and the European Space Agency, Harwell is home to the UK’s biggest concentration of space expertise. According to Harwell, the space sector contributes £5.7 billion to the UK economy.
Viasat stated that Harwell Space Cluster is widely acknowledged as a vital part of the UK’s space sector, bringing together vibrant, innovative firms from throughout the UK and European Union. It is hoping to establish relationships in the UK that will help us add value and new capabilities to our worldwide ViaSat-3 satellite constellation, which will bring broadband internet to the world’s most remote locations.
Furthermore, the company is excited to form partnerships with UK organizations in areas including space safety and sustainability, encryption and data security, terminal development, and more. ViaSat-3, the first of three high-capacity satellites, is set to launch later this year. The constellation is planned to have a total network capacity of over 3 Terabits per second (Tbps), which is nearly eight times that of Viasat’s existing fleet.
Additionally, Harwell Campus is interested in taking advantage of rapid advances in space technology and collaborating with other international space clusters to help the UK meet its National Space Strategy target of becoming 10% of the global space economy by 2030.