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With growing concern about emerging or potential threats in space, the U.S. military is challenged to maintain and enhance capabilities to cope with an uncertain future. That challenge means delayed decision making about follow-ons for such programs as the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) system and Wideband Global SatCom (WGS) which could be costly – […]

The Air Force is concerned less with how long a satellite will last in orbit and more about the spacecraft’s “Resiliency Capacity,” Winston Beauchamp, Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for Space, told a Space News Washington Space Business roundtable luncheon recently.
For decades, the Air Force used a formula called “Functional Availability” that predicted the

General John Hyten bridles at the perception of his Air Force Space Command being comprised of technicians in a 9-to-5 office environment reacting to threats thousands of miles above Earth. It’s a perception he wants to correct, Hyten told the Air Force Association’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies “Space Power for the Warfighter” breakfast seminar,

Earlier this year Telecom Review interviewed Terry Bleakley, Vice President for Asia Pacific at Intelsat. The magazine wanted an update on the dramatic changes that will come to the market once the first two Epic high-throughput satellites are launched by Intelsat in the first nine months of 2016.
In addition to a massive increase in throughput,

“I feel the best solution for the industry is through developing mitigation technologies because the diplomatic channels available to resolve jamming issues simply take too long,” said Mark Daniels, Vice President of Engineering and Operations for Intelsat General (IGC).
Speaking in an October 29th story in Via Satellite, “Stepping up the Combative Strategy”, Daniels joined several

The Army recently sent out a Request for Information (RFI) on how to best support the MQ-1C Gray Eagle Unmanned Aircraft System (UAS). The Gray Eagle is a critical part of the Army’s ISR strategy, and the massive amounts of satellite bandwidth required for its mission of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance means a high-throughput satellite

There are methods and tools for selecting locations for new antennas. There is also the need for a human element, as was shown vividly in a recent Intelsat General Corporation (IGC) case in Hawaii, where, based on a computer search and aerial images, the ideal spot for a 7.3 meter antenna was initially chosen.
To verify

The use of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) is rising rapidly worldwide. Long known only for their military applications, UAS are increasingly being deployed by civilian governments for use in scientific research, climate change research, and humanitarian relief operations. As detailed in a recent article from Northern Sky Research, the number of UAS dedicated to civilian

The current budgetary climate has forced a change in how the DoD handles space acquisition. As highlighted in this recent National Defense magazine article, programs in the past were often plagued by billions in cost overruns and up to a decade delay in a system’s full operational capability.
And the overruns were likely underestimated since the

As satellite communications becomes a more important piece of both day-to-day life and national security, interference with those communications becomes a critical challenge.
Last week SatCom Frontier spoke with Steven Adams, a Tier 2 engineer at the Intelsat General Secure Operations Center (ISOC). Steven explained the various types of satellite interference, including Adjacent Satellite interference (ASI),

The new high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems that have been announced or deployed have created great anticipation among satellite customers for major performance improvements. While the messaging has often focused on a satellite’s aggregate gigabits per second (Gbps), there is more to these HTS systems than raw capacity. Customers also need to examine the architectures underlying

The growing deployment of special forces continues to drive ISR demands higher, leading to greater reliance on more satellite bandwidth. But the new budgetary climate requires that U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) plan more carefully for all of its missions including how to ensure these critical communications moving forward.
That was the clear message coming out

Next-generation high-throughput satellite (HTS) systems are right around the corner, and will provide huge performance benefits for airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (AISR) DoD missions. That was the focus of a recent SIGNAL article that highlighted how significant the improvements will be.
From the article:
“Intelsat General, a leading provider of satellite services, recently completed a series

A new category of space-based protected tactical communications passed an important test last month. Intelsat General participated in tests led by the U.S. Air Force that validated the protected tactical waveform (PTW) modem performance over the upcoming high-throughput satellite (HTS) Intelsat EpicNG platform.
PTW will provide cost effective, protected communications over both government and commercial

Later this summer the Commercial Integration Cell (CIC) will begin operations for a six-month trial in the Joint Space Operations Center (JSpOC), a command-and-control center under U.S. Strategic Command. The JSpOC is located within Vandenberg AFB in California and is led by Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, 14th Air Force commander.
The CIC is a soon-to-be formed

In recent months, there has been a great deal of market activity occurring across the satellite ecosystem – from ground technology, to launch vehicle innovation and space-based technology. A large piece of this has focused on small satellites in various orbits, especially in the field of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites.
There are obvious strengths and

Next week at the SATELLITE 2015 show in Washington, DC, I will participate in an important panel discussion titled The Future of Government and Military Space: Safe Bets and Bold Predictions. The discussion will look specifically at why the DoD finds itself at a crossroads in regard to space programs and policies.
One important point I

Late last year Northern Sky Research (NSR) published the 11th edition of their annual report, Government and Military Satellite Communications. This past month they highlighted one of the clear findings of the report–the increasing percentage of managed services being chosen when government users procure commercial satellite services.
They drove home the point with an engaging analogy