Thuraya (Arabic: الثريا‎, pronounced [aθËuˈrajËa]n>), from the Arabic name for the constellation of the Pleiades, "Thurayya", is a regional Mobile Satellite Service (MSS) provider. The company operates 2 geostationary satellites and provides telecommunications coverage in more than 161 countries in Europe, the Middle East, North, Central and East Africa, Asia and Australia. Thuraya’s L-band network delivers voice, data, M2M and aero communication services to sectors such as government, marine, relief, enterprise, energy, aviation, media and leisure.
Headquartered in the United Arab Emirates, Thuraya’s satellite communication services (satcom) enable connectivity in remote regions beyond the range of terrestrial communication networks. With about 395 roaming partners worldwide, Thuraya also offers GSM roaming services over land-based mobile GSM networks. Thuraya sells a dual mode, dual SIM satellite phone - Thuraya XT-PRO DUAL - with both GSM and satellite capabilities.
Thuraya's shareholders consist of investment companies, Middle Eastern and North African telcos. The UAE-based telecommunications company Etisalat is a major shareholder.
Services
Using Your Thuraya XT Satellite Mobile Phone - "A step by step guide to using Thuraya's XT Satellite Mobile Phone."
- Voice communications with satellite phones or fixed terminals
- Short message service
- 60 kbit/s downlink and 15 kbit/s uplink "GMPRS" mobile data service on Thuraya satellite phones
- 444 kbit/s high-speed data transfer via a notebook-sized terminal (ThurayaIP)
- A number of other services, such as call waiting, missed calls, voicemail, etc.
- A one-way 'high-power alert' capability that notifies users of an incoming call, when the signal path to the satellite is obstructed (e.g. inside a building)
Technical details of the network
Virtual country code
Thuraya's country calling code is +882 16, which is part of the ITU-T International Networks numbering group. Thuraya is not part of the +881 country calling code numbering group as this is allocated by ITU-T for networks in the Global Mobile Satellite System, of which Thuraya is not a part, being a regional rather than a global system.
Air interface
Transceivers communicate directly with the satellites using an antenna of roughly the same length as the handset and have a maximum output power of 2 Watts. QPSK modulation is used for the air interface. Thuraya SIM cards will work in regular GSM telephones and ordinary GSM SIM cards can be used on the satellite network as long as the SIM provider has a roaming agreement with Thuraya. As with all geosynchronous voice services a noticeable lag is present while making a call.
Due to the relatively high gain of the antennas contained within handsets, it is necessary to roughly aim the antenna at the satellite. As the handsets contain a GPS receiver it is possible to program the ground position of the satellites as waypoints to assist with aiming. The service operates on L-band carriers assigned in blocks to areas of coverage referred to as "spotbeams", which are Thuraya’s equivalent to cells or service areas. In L-band, 34 MHz of bandwidth from 1.525 GHz to 1.559 GHz is assigned for downlink (space-to-earth) communication, while the uplink (earth-to-space) operates between 1.6265 GHz and 1.6605 GHz. Uplink and downlink channels are 1087 paired carrier frequencies, on a raster of 31.25 kHz. A Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) time slot architecture is employed which allocates a carrier in timeslots of a fixed length.
Use of GPS
Every Thuraya phone and standalone transceiver unit is fitted with a GPS receiver and transmits its location to the Thuraya gateway periodically. The built-in GPS capability can be used for waypoint navigation.
Satellites
Thuraya operates two communications satellites built by Boeing.
- Thuraya 1
The first satellite, named Thuraya 1, had deficient solar panels and could not operate properly; this satellite was positioned above Korea for testing purposes. It was launched on 21 October 2000 by Sea Launch on a Zenit 3SL rocket. At launch it weighed 5250Â kg. The satellite was used for testing and backup until May 2007, when it was moved to junk orbit and declared at its end of life.
- Thuraya 2
Thuraya 2 was launched by Sea Launch on 10 June 2003. It is located in geosynchronous orbit at 44° E longitude, inclined at 6.3 degrees. The satellite can handle 13,750 simultaneous voice calls. This satellite currently serves most of Europe, the Middle East, Africa and parts of Asia. The craft had a weight of 3200 kg and an expected life of 12 years. The two solar-panel wings, each containing five panels, generate 11 KW electric power (at end of life). The craft has two antenna systems: a round C-band antenna, 1.27 meters in diameter and a 12 × 16 meter AstroMesh reflector, 128 element L-band antenna, supplied by Astro Aerospace in Carpenteria, CA. These antennas support up to 351 separate spot beams, each configurable to concentrate power where usage needs it. Amateur astronomer observations suspected the nearby MENTOR 4 USA-202 United States government satellite was eavesdropping on Thuraya 2 and this was reported to be confirmed by documents released on Sep 9, 2016 by the Intercept as part of the Snowden Files.
- Thuraya 3
The third satellite was planned for launch by Sea Launch in Q1 2007, and the start of Far East and Australia service was planned for 15 October 2007. The failure in January 2007 of the NSS-8 mission on another Sea Launch rocket led to a substantial delay in the launch of Thuraya-3, which was rescheduled for 14 November 2007, but the launch was postponed several times due to sea conditions. The launch vessels set out from port again on 2 January 2008, and launch occurred successfully at 11:49 GMT on 15 January 2008. The Thuraya 3 satellite is technically the same as Thuraya 2, but located in geosynchronous orbit at 98.5° E longitude, inclined at 6.2 degrees.
Subscriber hardware
Handsets
- Ascom 21 - First generation handset, monochrome display, 9600 bit/s dial-up data, GSM900 compatible
- Hughes 7100 - First generation handset, monochrome display, 9600 bit/s dial-up data, GSM900 compatible
- Hughes 7101 - Functionally identical to Hughes 7100 but with added Wireless application protocol support
- Thuraya SO-2510 - Second generation handset, supports GmPRS (60/15 kbit/s), runs VxWorks
- Thuraya SG-2520 - Second generation handset, supports GmPRS (60/15 kbit/s), runs Windows CE, GSM900/1800 compatible
- Thuraya XT - Third generation handset, supports GmPRS
- Thuraya XT-DUAL - Third generation handset, supports GmPRS, GSM900/1800/1900
- Thuraya XT-PRO - Third generation handset, supports GmPRS
- Thuraya XT-LITE - Third generation handset, no packet data support
- Thuraya XT-PRO Dual - Third generation handset, supports GmPRS, GSM, UMTS 2100
Sleeves
- SatSleeve for Android
- SatSleeve for iPhone
- SatSleeve Plus
- SatSleeve Hotspot
See also
- Mobile-satellite service
- Satellite phone
- Broadband Global Area Network
- GEO-Mobile Radio Interface
- Globalstar
- Inmarsat
- Iridium
- O3b
- SkyTerra
- SkyWave Mobile Communications
References
External links
- Official website
- Thuraya network coverage
- Buy Thuraya
- Thuraya coverage in Africa
- Buy Thuraya SatSleeve
- Thuraya IP+ Broadband Satellite Terminal
- Thuraya XT-PRO, world's most advanced satellite phone
