Tekever and ViaSat to Expand Civilian Use of Drones with Advanced Satellite Communications

The Tekever Group, an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) manufacturer, and ViaSat, an innovator in broadband and communication technologies and services, have entered into a strategic alliance to expand the civilian use of drones with advanced satellite communications.

This joint collaboration will bring ViaSat’s communication technologies onto Tekever’s drone platforms to push the boundaries of UAS range in civilian Beyond Line of Sight (BLOS) applications.

Research and development (R&D) activities will combine Tekever platforms and ViaSat hardware to develop communication systems for current and next-generation civilian drone applications.

“ViaSat is on the forefront of satellite communication technologies and we’re proud to join them in a quest to innovate the civilian UAS market with forward-thinking long-range applications,” said Ricardo Mendes, Tekever Group chief operating officer. “This partnership will increase our capability to deliver more effective solutions for multiple mission profiles, including maritime surveillance, emergency response and monitoring of critical infrastructures.”

ViaSat technologies will include satellite communication products that are robust and can be integrated with Air Traffic Management (ATM) systems driving the use of drones in “unsegregated” or civilian airspace.

The products that will be developed through the Tekever and ViaSat strategic alliance will aim to expand the range of civilian service applications for drone usage through enabling smaller platforms and longer missions.

The first use cases that will be demonstrated include: maritime monitoring and critical infrastructure surveillance.

“Tekever is delivering state of the art unmanned systems to both the military and civilian markets. Joining them will allow us to adapt our technology to new types of applications that we believe will change the future of civilian BLOS UAS applications, ” said Stefano Vaccaro, managing director of ViaSat Antenna Systems Division, Switzerland. “This has a significant worldwide market potential that aligns with the strategic roadmap of both companies.”