Astranis, Pacific Dataport Sign Agreement for Alaskan Broadband Satellite

Satellite broadband company Astranis Space Technologies signed Alaskan connectivity company Pacific Dataport as an inaugural customer for Astranis' first commercial satellite, with the intention of bandwidth availability in Alaska and lowered pricing of internet access, they said Wednesday. Astranis will build, launch and operate the high-throughput microsatellite, which will operate in geostationary orbit. Launch is expected in 2020, providing 7.5 Gbps of capacity -- roughly tripling current available satellite capacity there.