Virtualizing Network Functions – How Intelsat and Kratos are Leading the Charge and Moving the Satellite Industry Forward

As has been the trend in other industries, virtualizing network functions promises to transform the satellite industry. Intelsat and Kratos are leading the charge.

Intelsat’s SmartEdge terminal incorporates Kratos’s OpenSpace technology which is moving us towards our vision of network virtualization and enabling us to conquer another industry first by bringing a virtualized modem into our multi-orbit, space-to-ground, software defined network. For customers this offers added flexibility to deploy Intelsat’s managed services on generic compute devices, including a variety of commercially off-the shelf hardware that can be purchased anywhere and may already be part of their inventory.

Innovations such as our SmartEdge terminal, along with our investment in the world’s first end-to-end software defined network will bring groundbreaking advances to our industry. Customers will ultimately realize a seamless and dynamic experience, without having to manually navigate complex configuration changes, when it comes to managing capacity and network requirements. A software-defined network is a future proof network – where upgrades are done over the air – and customers can easily add applications and take advantage of new features and releases.

The satellite industry has traditionally been behind the curve with respect to adoption of software and open standards. Intelsat is changing that. By bringing virtual technology to the edge of the network, we are inspiring a positive change and pushing the industry forward.