“[Brig.-Gen. Blaise] Frawley said planning in advance for space systems is important because, unlike warships or aircraft that can last 30 or 40 years, spacecraft have a life expectancy of between five and 10 years. That short life cycle requires better planning. “When we field a constellation (of satellites) in space, if we’re not already thinking of the follow on, then we will have a gap in capability in a lot of cases,” he said.”Commercial space is a competitive market, with Intelsat and other operators constantly investing in technology to better manage their own operations and to stay ahead of the competition. Operators of small constellations even hand over the operation of their satellites to Intelsat to ensures that the satellites are operated by skilled professionals who know how to use the latest technologies. Intelsat’s recent announcement of a merger with OneWeb is evidence of the forward thinking taking place in the commercial sector. Together, the companies will create a space industry leader in both geosynchronous earth orbit (GEO) and low earth orbit (LEO). Together, they are looking to create the world’s first LEO/GEO Ku-band network. How GEO and LEO can work together was a hot topic at the recent Satellite 2017 conference in Washington, DC. Commercial satellite companies have programs underway that could meet or exceed Canadian requirements for consistent communications for its military forces and government agencies, as well as provide connectivity for the country’s northern communities and for Arctic science experiments. The combination of OneWeb’s proposed constellation of up to 648 LEO satellites and Intelsat’s global constellation of over 50 GEO spacecraft would give Canada access to wide-ranging communications capabilities, even in its far northern latitudes, as early as 2020, well ahead of the projected timeframe of its proposed government satellite project. The longer Canada waits to launch its satellites, the more urgent its SATCOM needs will become. By considering commercial SATCOM capacity, Canada can access the latest satellite technology, improve coverage and performance while also saving a great deal of money. Hopefully, that’s the kind of value proposition in space our northern neighbor can’t ignore.
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