The NBN Co's custom-built satellite is on track to launch in mid-October. Credit:NBN Co SkyMuster II will launch from French Guiana in October and join Sky Muster I in orbit above the Earth's equator. SkyMuster launched in October 2015 and NBN Co has put 10,000 customers onto it since April. Altogether 240,000 customers are expected to be using NBN's satellite service by 2020. The satellite project was done within its $1.8 billion budget, according to NBN Co's Space Systems Managing Architect, Julia Dickinson. About 40,000 people in regional and rural areas have been using a slower interim satellite service since 2011, which was provided by NBN Co buying capacity on existing satellites owned by Optus and IPStar for a combined $300 million. Internet speeds on the interim service were up to 6 megabits per second [Mbps], while the NBN Co-owned satellites will deliver up to 25 Mbps.

However, the interim service was a Ku-band satellite operating at the 12 to 18 gigahertz frequency and the new satellites are both Ka-band operating at between 20 and 30 gigahertz. This means the 40,000 regional and remote households who were using the interim service will need to have their existing 120 centimetre diameter NBN satellite dish and equipment replaced before they can start using the faster SkyMuster service. This will have to be done within a year, before the interim service is switched off. The dishes remain NBN Co's property and a spokeswoman said "NBN will look to explore options for reuse of the old interim satellite service equipment". Whether this means re-cycling, selling or donating the dishes remains to be seen. Ku-band satellites operate all over the world and the dishes can also be used for Foxtel in Australia. Used dishes sell for about $40 each on eBay. Ms Dickinson said the two SkyMuster satellites would "give us the total system capacity of 135 gigabits per second". Data from NBN customers will be spread across the two satellites, with one satellite able to take all the traffic if the other fails. The new service will be available to 400,000 Australians in regional and remote areas. The rest of the population will be serviced by fixed or fixed wireless internet. Ms Dickinson confirmed NBN Co may be able to re-sell spare capacity on its satellites in the future.

"Our primary focus is on the rural and remote users, and we will look at the spare capacity and determine what we can do there, as long as it doesn't impact on our primary focus," she said. "We will look at any options to make the best use of this Australian asset." While SkyMuster's internet speeds now exceed what many Australians can get in urban areas, customers were likely to have smaller download limits. NBN fibre customers can buy up to 1000 gigabytes of downloads per month, whereas satellite customers are limited to maximum download allowances of about 90 gigabytes per month, according to current offers. However, this was still a huge data allowance, compared to what was previously available in regional and remote areas. The satellites were commissioned in 2012 and built by Californian-based SSL for $620 million. They are designed to last at least 15 years. The launch cost $300 million through Arianespace.