Satellite architect Julia Dickinson with a model of an NBN Co broadband satellite. Credit:Wayne Taylor "[The] reason for my criticism was not that satellites are a bad idea; simply they — [the then Labor government] — would have been, in my view, better off contracting with the private sector to provide those services." In Opposition, Turnbull called Labor's satellite plan, first conceived in 2012 under then Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, a "Rolls-Royce" communications system. "There is enough capacity on private satellites already in orbit or scheduled for launch for the NBN to deliver broadband to the 200,000 or so premises in remote Australia without building its own," he said in a statement which has since been been removed from his website. (He says he's "not sure" why it disappeared.) Australian listed company NewSat was one private sector contender named for the job – but it collapsed spectacularly earlier this year thanks to mismanagement and questionable financial dealings.

The NBN's 6.4 tonne "Sky Muster" satellite during the construction phase. Turbull's position was also disputed at the time by nbn's satellite project director Matt Dawson and then Optus chief Paul O'Sullivan, who said his company's satellite capacity was already accounted for. Labor's current communications spokesperson Jason Clare recently described Turnbull's backflip on the nbn satellite plan as "worthy of [Romanian gymnast] Nadia Comaneci", and says Australians are "very lucky" contracts were signed before Labor lost power. NBN satellite coverage. Credit:nbn "I think the model we chose is the right one and in his heart of hearts Turnbull knows this is the right one too," Mr Clare told Fairfax Media.

If everything goes to plan, the long-term satellite service will deliver download speeds of 25Mbps and upload speeds of 5Mbps for up to 400,000 eligible rural and remote premises, with a total capacity of 135Gbps compared to only 4Gbps on the current interim satellite service. One-hundred-and-one "spot beams" will cover the nation's vast geography – including faraway places like Macquarie Island – to deliver "the quality at least that people are getting in the city", nbn space systems manager Julia Dickinson says. But from cost blowouts to asbestos scandals, nothing much ever seems to go according to plan when it comes to the nbn. Sky Muster has undergone rigorous testing to ensure it can withstand the most dangerous part of its journey: on the back of a rocket, breaking through the Earth's atmosphere. Dickinson says the type of rocket being used has seen 67 successful launches in a row, but concedes there's "always a small risk" of catastrophe, however unquantifiable.

"Any number I give you will be wrong," she says. In the last year, a SpaceX rocket carrying cargo destined for the International Space Station disintegrated on lift-off, while Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo dramatically crashed and killed a test pilot. Should Sky Muster make it safely into orbit, it will still take several months of end-to-end testing before customers can access its broadband services. Retailers such as Telstra and Optus will also have to test integration with their networks, with retail slated for mid-2016. A second satellite will join Sky Muster in a few months after testing in the US. Turnbull and his parliamentary secretary Paul Fletcher have been busy touring rural and remote Australia in the months leading up to Sky Muster's October 1 launch.

Their job is to reassure locals it won't be a repeat of the struggling interim satellite service, which rents spare capacity on satellites owned and managed by Optus and IP Star. It was only ever meant to be a stop-gap measure while Sky Muster and co were being built, but it has been a source of much anguish for some communities thanks to unprecedented network demand causing major congestion issues. Despite Turnbull promising a "pretty fantastic experience" on the shiny new satellite service, years of poor connectivity for these communities mean not everyone is convinced. Answers as to how quickly the service will reach capacity remain murky. Modelling from the National Farmers' Federation suggests it could fill up as soon as 2020. Independent telecommunications analyst Paul Budde says such a time-frame is "not far of the mark". Turnbull and the nbn both say it's difficult to predict what the uptake of the service will be until, ultimately, it's up and running. What we do know is the spot beams likely to be slammed with congestion issues first are those covering more populated – and rapidly growing – areas.