"Today we got to go see the entrepreneurial business ViaSat. Our tour of the facility was incredible; they had two volleyball courts with imported sand, a basketball court, and even free coffee machines that they let us use! On a more serious note, the technology that they are creating at this facility is unparalleled to any other organization. Their current satellite coverage covers most of the United States and is the biggest satellite array that orbits the Earth. Nikolai Devereaux, our tour guide, also told us that they are planning to launch an even bigger satellite array into space by using a SpaceX rocket in the coming year. This new satellite will cover all of the USA, some of the Atlantic, South America, and even some of Europe. Ironically, this satellite will steal the record for biggest satellite array in space from themselves. He also enlightened us on how WiFi is provided on planes and how Jet Blue utilizes ViaSat technology to provide high-speed internet for all its customers, contrary to airlines such as Southwest which provide a spotty wireless service.
Later in the day Mr. Devereaux brought us to see one of their active testing facilities that houses 1000 routers and about 16 or so server racks that are used to simulate both weather, users, and the satellite itself. We were allowed to enter the room and found it to be extremely cold because of all the fans that are running to keep the servers at an optimal temperature to prevent them from overheating. To set up the first two rows of servers and one wall of routers took them around five months to finish! It's interesting to see a business that requires not just one type of engineer; ViaSat requires engineers from all different fields whether that be Electrical, Computer Science, or Mechanical; they need all these professions to create new and innovative satellites that revolutionize the market!"
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