It was launched on August 11, 2005, from the European Space Agency's spaceport in French Guiana on board the Ariane rocket.
Its 45 Gbit/s of capacity had never been achieved on a satellite before, enabling IPSTAR to provide up to 6 Mbit/s user download and up to 4 Mbit/s upload speeds for a variety of applications and services.
These forward channels employ highly efficient transmission methods, including Turbo Product Code (TPC) and higher order modulation (L-codes) for increased system performance.
These narrow-band channels operate in different multiple-access modes based on bandwidth-usage behavior, including ALOHA and TDMA for STAR return link waveform.
Traditional satellite technology utilizes a broad single beam to cover entire continents and regions.