ViaSat-1

ViaSat-1, launched in October 2011 from Baikonur, Kazakhstan, provided approximately 140 Gbps of total throughput—more than all existing North American commercial communications satellites combined at the time. This massive capacity was achieved through Ka-band spot beam architecture, which reuses frequencies across dozens of geographically separated beams.

ViaSat-1 operates from a geostationary orbital slot at 115° West longitude, providing broadband coverage across North America including the United States, Canada, and Hawaii. It primarily serves residential and commercial internet customers through Viasat's satellite broadband service, which was originally marketed under the Exede brand.

ViaSat-1 operates in the Ka-band frequency range, which offers far more available bandwidth than the Ku-band used by older satellite internet systems, enabling higher data throughput. The trade-off is that Ka-band signals are more susceptible to rain fade—signal degradation during heavy precipitation—which can affect service quality in storm-prone regions.

ViaSat-1's throughput record was surpassed by ViaSat-2, launched in 2017, which offered over 260 Gbps and broader geographic coverage. The ViaSat-3 class of satellites, designed for terabit-per-second-class capacity, began launching in 2023, though the ViaSat-3 Americas satellite experienced a significant antenna deployment anomaly that reduced its planned capacity.