On April 6 1965 the world’s first commercial communication satellite, Early Bird, was placed in orbit. This single satellite had almost the same capacity as all the trans-Atlantic cables laid at that time.

Today communication satellites provide a complex mix of services including long distance trunking, telephony, video and audio broadcasting, mobile communication, on-demand narrowband data and broadband multimedia and Internet.

The Challenge

The information revolution has driven a bandwidth demand explosion, a step-change in consumer expectations and increased competition from terrestrial service providers with fast expanding networks.

Satellite operators, service providers and broadcasters are therefore continually pushing the boundaries of service delivery. They offer an increasingly sophisticated range of communications and value-add content delivery services, to extend their footprint within the end-to-end value chain, and ensure that capacity is optimally used.

Modern technologies such as dynamic resource allocation, high throughput satellites and innovative constellations present new demands on the ground segments which control the communications satellites. More mobile, machine-to-machine (M2M), hybrid satellite-terrestrial and content services require better network and service management techniques.

A key challenge is to deliver the ground networks, management systems and delivery platforms that are needed to meet the ever increasing requirements in terms of scale, complexity and flexibility.

Our Capability

CGI has decades of experience and understands the software and systems needed to meet these challenges. We provide innovative, secure, costeffective, mission-critical solutions for the satellite communication industry.

Our Credentials

  • Over 20 years heritage in defining, developing and integrating systems for satellite communications operators and satellite service providers
  • A client portfolio of key industry players including the European Space Agency, Inmarsat, SES, Eutelsat, Globalstar, Iridium and Airbus Defence & Space
  • Projects range from market and technology consultancy through to very large scale network and software systems integration
  • We bring world class commercial telecommunications experience to the satcom sector – having supplied systems to over 100 telecoms operators on 5 continents
  • Leading satcom management system provider – for example as prime software contractor for Skynet 5, the UK military satcom system