In his comments during the event, Gen. Povak explained that the decades-long era of the U.S. being the undisputed leader in space technology, “…is no longer the case.”

Global superpowers like Russia and China are closing the technology gap between themselves and the current capability set the U.S. employs. And while near-peer adversaries continue to heavily invest funds and manpower to the development of capable military space systems, they are also demonstrating aggressive actions in space that could pose real threats to U.S. systems.

“Today, several nations…are actively developing ground and space-based weapons specifically designed to interfere with or destroy our systems in space,” said Gen. Povak. “These counter-space capabilities include missiles and weapons systems designed to deliver direct energy, electronic warfare, and cyber attack defense – all of which threaten our ability to freely access and operate in space.”

With adversaries growing and fielding their arsenal of anti-satellite capabilities, and developing space-enabled lethal weapons systems, Gen. Povak admits that they are, “…gaining on our technology advantage at a rapid pace.” But Gen. Povak assured the forum audience that the NRO remains the world leader in developing and operating space intelligence capabilities, and that the agency is prepared to keep up with the threat and ensure U.S. dominance in the space domain.

NRO and space defense
According to Gen. Povak, the NRO is responsible for the research and development, acquisition, launch, integration, and operation of the nation’s vast constellation of space-based intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities.

“As a defense agency and an element of the Intelligence Community, the NRO collects intelligence and information to support national level and Department of Defense missions,” Maj. Povak explained. “Overall, NRO’s mission is to work with our partners to gain and maintain the nation’s intelligence advantage during peacetime and throughout periods of crisis and conflict around the world.”

As part of its response to the rapid growth of adversarial capability and presence in the space domain, Gen. Povak said that the NRO is advancing U.S. space-based capabilities through employing cutting-edge technologies that provide real-time situational awareness and intelligence to analysts, policymakers, and warfighters faster than ever before. And according to Gen. Povak, a critical component of these situational awareness and intelligence chains are the commercial partners in the satellite and space industries.

Bringing the NRO and industry together for assured space capabilities
Gen. Povak views commercial satellite data as an especially critical source for situational awareness and intelligence, due to its unclassified and shareable nature. He considers the partnership between industry and the NRO as a valuable tool to continue to rely upon, and highlighted the benefits derived from a modern, hybrid intelligence architecture – pointing to the role commercial satellite imagery played in intelligence gathering throughout the early moments of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

“Fortunately, the NRO is already building the largest and most capable, diverse and resilient overhead constellation in our history,” said Gen. Povak. “Within the next decade, NRO expects to quadruple the number of satellites we currently have on-orbit, with different sizes and different orbits for commercial and national.”

He explained that these satellites will deliver more than 10 times as many signals and images that are being collected today. “The proliferation and diversification of our architecture will provide increased coverage, greater capacity and resilience, and more timely delivery of data,” he said. “Such improvements will increase the competence and the relevance of NRO capabilities, which are already the world’s standard of excellence for space-based ISR.”

And industry has been hard at work to help the NRO in its mission of maintaining space-based ISR dominance. According to Gen. Povak, the commercial marketplace for ISR capabilities has significantly grown over the past decade, and the NRO has led contracting efforts with both traditional and new commercial ISR providers.

“Now, we have an array of a community of industry partners that are working hard to get some of these commercially-available products into our architecture,” Gen. Povak explained. “I think the benefits of commercial is not them on their own; it’s how they’re integrated with our infrastructure.”

Gen. Povak noted that space will always continue to be a battleground of constant competition for information advantage, but that the NRO will ensure that the U.S. will maintain its dominance in the domain. “Today, the NRO’s space-based ISR capabilities are without a doubt the best in the world,” he said. “However, in an era of growing competition, our imperative is to develop the technologies, tools, capabilities, and space-minded expertise to stay that way.”

Click the video below to hear more about how the NRO is uniting with industry partners to create its hybrid intelligence architecture and learn about SES Space & Defense’s ISR capabilities.

The post NRO, industry unite for space-based intelligence architecture appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

There are a number of things about these IDIQ contracts that are newsworthy and downright revolutionary for the DoD. First, this is the first time that a multiple award contract model has been leveraged to deliver PLEO COMSATCOM services to the government or military, a decision that DISA claims will, “…deliver capabilities to the warfighter faster and at [a] lower cost.”

The contracts are valued at $32,000 with a $2,000 minimum guarantee to each contractor. However, the total cumulative value of the contracts is $900 million over a period of five years. The government then has the option to add an additional five-year period of performance. Effectively, this gives the services and commands within the DoD the ability to acquire up to $900 million in LEO COMSATCOM services over a period of, potentially, up to ten years.

The 16 different satellite operators and integrators chosen for these contracts include:

• SpaceX
• Capella Federal, Inc.
• BlackSky Geospatial Solutions, Inc.
• SES Space & Defense
• Hughes Network Systems, LLC
• Inmarsat Government, Inc.
• Amazon’s Kuiper Government Services (KGS) LLC
• Intelsat General Communications LLC
• OneWeb Technologies, Inc.
• ARINC, Inc.
• Artel, LLC
• PAR Government
• RiteNet Corp.
• Satcom Direct Government, Inc. (SDG)
• Trace Systems Inc.
• UltiSat, Inc.

But the structure of the contract – as a new approach to acquiring COMSATCOM services – is just one aspect or element that makes it stand apart. The awarding of these contracts for what the military is calling “Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services” is illustrative of two major trends that we’re seeing as it pertains to the military in the space domain.

Integrating COMSATCOM
For the better part of a decade, the military has been debating whether to continue investing in its own, exquisite, purpose-built communications satellites or pivot to utilizing those developed and operated by commercial partners. While the allure of fully owning, operating, maintaining, and securing their own satellites delayed this shift, COMSATCOM innovations ultimately made it inevitable.

As Gen. Curtis Michael Scaparrotti (Ret.), former Commander of United States European Command, once told the Government Satellite Report, “Commercial satellite providers are the engines of innovation, providing capabilities today and on the horizon that are quite promising.” It’s this innovation that has pushed commercial satellite operators to expand into new orbits – including Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and LEO – and has led to the development of new capabilities that could effectively integrate with the existing MILSATCOM satellites.

These new PLEO IDIQ contract awards show that the military has truly embraced innovative COMSATCOM solutions and satellite services, making them readily available to the DoD as an essential tool in enabling connectivity and communications at the tactical edge. They’re also evidence that proliferation into new orbits, frequency bands, and waveforms is seen as essential in the new reality that the DoD faces in space.

Embracing multi-orbit satellite
Once seen as a benign environment where nations could operate safely without disruption, space is now universally considered an austere, warfighting domain.

As Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) recently explained at a Mitchell Institute Schreiver Spacepower Forum, “…U.S. Space Command now operates in a domain where threats are on the rise. Adversaries like China are increasingly seeking to contest this domain…[and] their capabilities include everything from ground-based direct ascent missiles, to electronic warfare, jamming, and co-orbital rendezvous satellites.”

In this environment, it’s not enough to simply proliferate satellite resources within one orbit. For true assurance and redundancy, today’s military will need satellite communications that are both multi-band and multi-orbit.

As Ben Pigsley, the Senior Vice President of Defense Networks at SES Space & Defense, recently explained, “Today, the military is facing near-peer adversaries that have demonstrated their ability to disrupt, deny, and degrade our communications networks…Both multi-orbit and multi-band network solutions offer an elevated level of resiliency and increase availability to government customers. Higher availability is critical to the command-and-control networks operated by the DoD.”

Aside from the benefits to resiliency and assuredness, the introduction of commercial services at different orbits has the potential to deliver new capabilities to the DoD. LEO and MEO satellite constellations offer lower latency and the ability to deliver fiber-like connectivity to practically anywhere on the planet – making them the perfect solutions for high-bandwidth applications that may not have operated effectively over traditional satellite connectivity from Geostationary Orbit (GEO).

But now that the DoD has a contract vehicle in place to acquire these services from 16 different providers, what should they be looking for?

Integrate not just operate
Not all of the satellite providers and integrators on the list are identical or offer the same services and solutions. In fact, some of the recipients that received PLEO contracts don’t even operate their own LEO satellite constellations.

So, what should the disparate services and commands within the DoD be looking for when looking to purchase PLEO satellite services through this contract? Here are three considerations that they should keep in mind when evaluating PLEO satellite service offerings:

1) A secure, integrated space and terrestrial network
True end-to-end satellite solutions require more than just space assets – they require an integrated terrestrial and space network that is capable of getting data and information to where it’s needed from anywhere on Earth.

Often, to build a true end-to-end solution, an established terrestrial network will need to be integrated  with multiple satellite offerings. Also, without a dedicated terrestrial network, data often needs to be moved through insecure methods to its final destination – including through the Internet.

If the DoD is going to benefit from PLEO service anywhere on the globe, they need to be working with a provider that can integrate multiple satellite constellations and its own established terrestrial networks to offer true, secure global connectivity that does not require sensitive military data being directed through the public Internet.

2) EM&C capabilities
For the military to have seamless command and control of its integrated space and terrestrial architecture, it needs enterprise management and control (EM&C). As Frank Backes, Senior Vice President for Federal Space at Kratos explained, “[EM&C] allows military and commercial satellite communications systems to be tied seamlessly into the terrestrial infrastructure.”

Any provider or integrator that the DoD considers needs to offer EM&C capabilities if COMSATCOM, MILSATCOM, and terrestrial networks are going to be integrated and deliver capabilities seamlessly to warfighters on the battlefield. As Backes further explained, “Among the goals of EM&C are giving more satellite link choices, reducing resource allocation times, improving bandwidth efficiency, and providing situational awareness to SATCOM.”

3) Experience building global solutions
Building a global, integrated MILSATCOM, COMSATCOM, and terrestrial network, and providing a managed service is complicated and requires both experience and expertise.

In some instances, terminals or gateways may need to be installed to make a global solution work where needed. In other instances, frequency clearances, approvals, and landing rights may be required for a satellite service to be used in other nations.

It’s important that the DoD works to identify the providers and integrators with deep experience and knowledge in building and operating global networks. This is the only way to ensure that the personnel with the connections and expertise are available to navigate these challenges and get networks operating seamlessly.

To learn more about the PLEO contract award from DISA and U.S. Space Force, click HERE.

The post 3 Reasons Why the DISA’s PLEO Contract is Revolutionary appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

According to Admiral Christopher W. Grady, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chief of Staffs, “Joint Force integration is uniform agnostic.” This was a critical theme that Adm. Grady underscored during his recent keynote address at the 2023 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, where he discussed the importance of the JWC in deterring and defeating military adversaries and the role that both the Joint Force and commercial industry will play in making the JWC a reality.

The Joint Force and JWC
During his keynote, Adm. Grady explained that the character of today’s modern warfighting and security environments is the most challenging the U.S. has faced in recent history. This is attributed to the challenges the military is currently combatting, which “transcend the ability of a single service, a single combatant commander, a single industrial partner, or a nation or government to address alone.”

Today’s warfighting environments that the U.S. military operates in have an “enduring nature to the strategic competition” that must be carefully and tactically managed. “Our task is clear: bolster our defense, strengthen our global network of allies and partners, and accelerate the development of cutting-edge capabilities and new operational concepts,” stated Adm. Grady.

To achieve the goals set forth by the JWC, Adm. Grady explained that the Joint Force will require ready, responsive, and resilient air and space capabilities that give a competitive advantage in a multi-domain fight. “We will win by integrating all of our nation’s strengths,” said Adm. Grady. “To do this…it is an absolute imperative that our warfighters, technology, and our strategies be attuned to the high-end fight.”

Modernization and the investment in digitally transformed technologies and capabilities are paramount to the realization of the JWC. According to Adm. Grady, the JWC will rely on a “flexible, innovative and tech-enabled” Joint Force. This is especially critical, as Adm. Grady pointed to the founding of the U.S. Space Force and how the military branch now plays a critical role in providing a large set of capabilities required to fulfill the JWC mission.

“We created a service meant to realize the joint alignment and integration that is necessary for reliable and resilient space-based capabilities,” said Adm. Grady. “The competencies of the Space Force enhance our domain awareness, our communications…and support the capabilities of our collective efforts.”

To Adm. Grady, having an integrated, modernized, and tech-enabled JWC, “…steers the Joint Force to ensure that we have the right people, the right equipment, the right training and …to deter and if necessary to win in any future conflict.”

CJADC2
One sub-component that falls under the JWC capability set umbrella is the Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (CJADC2) initiative. CJADC2 is a vision set forth by the DoD that would provide the Joint Force with a full, common operating picture of warfighting environments across the entire military. The Congressional Research Service describes CJADC2 as a “concept to connect sensors from all of the military services—Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Space Force—into a single network.”

The success of the CJADC2 initiative requires modernized and tech-enabled sharing of mission-critical data across DoD agencies, which would enable real-time, threat-informed decision-making for military leaders.

“CJADC2 will integrate our next-generation platforms and break down seams between domains for a truly globally integrated and informed force,” explained Adm. Grady. “As space and cyber and strike are not constrained by national boundaries or borders between combat and commanders, neither will our C2 networks.”

Extending CJADC2 to Space
But there is more to interoperability than simply getting disparate military networks to work together. Mission success in the future also relies on the military developing an integrated space architecture. This integrated network would increase assuredness and resiliency by enabling warfighters to seamlessly roll across multi-orbit, multi-band satellite capabilities provided via disparate military and commercial constellations.

To Adm. Grady, the overall success of CJADC2 and the Joint Warfighting Concept will greatly rely on the innovation and new technologies coming out of the commercial industry. “It is imperative that our partners of the defense industry see themselves in this as part of the value proposition,” explained Adm. Grady. “We need their innovative approaches to discovery and design. We need their operational expertise, efficiencies, and ability to right-size capacity and production to meet our needs. We cannot do it without them.”

And that innovative approach extends beyond companies manufacturing terrestrial communications equipment and solutions, to those that deliver satellite services.

The commercial satellite industry has heeded the call from the DoD, and stands ready to provide the technologies and capabilities to ensure a readied, prepared, and integrated Joint Force.

Solutions like the Information, Communications, and Technologies (ICT) Portal by SES Space & Defense  are specifically designed to deliver the network management, performance monitoring, and security capabilities that are needed for the creation of an integrated satellite architecture.

According to SES Space & Defense’s Senior Director of Strategic Initiatives, Ram Rao, the ICT Portal enables DoD leaders to gain visibility into thousands of different network data points on a singular, consolidated interface, which would ensure the U.S. military maintains a one-step-ahead, competitive advantage over its adversaries. “The ICT Portal will be a window that will enable visibility into the network’s capabilities, how it is built, and how it is operating,” said Rao. “This will deliver complete resiliency to military networks and support the DoD’s CJADC2 initiative.”

To learn more about the multi-domain functionalities that ICT Portal provides to the DoD, click HERE.

The post New technologies Enabling JWC and CJADC2 appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

During one session at this year’s AFA conference, “Partnering to Win in the Space Fight,” military officials from the U.S. and its allies assembled to discuss the current state of their military coalitions in space, the joint capabilities they have leveraged to gain dominance in the domain, as well as the work that is still left to be done in order to hold a strong deterrent position over space adversaries. Session speakers included:

• Space Systems Command’s Lt. Gen. Michael Guetlein,
• Royal Canadian Air Force’s Lt. Gen. E.J. Kenny,
• Australian’s Air & Space Attaché’s Air Commadore Angus Porter
• RAF Air and Space Commander Air Marshal Harvey Smyth

According to Air Commodore Porter, a century of joint warfighting as allies have proven that the four nations are capable of protecting any domain that must be defended from adversarial aggression. “The last 100 years have really demonstrated to us the value of working closely with partners,” said Porter. “Particularly with capabilities…and [conducting] warfighting training exercises together, we feel like we’ve been in the environment together before we arrive.”

But the idea of space as a warfighting environment poses a new challenge that the allied nations must come together to solve. As session moderator Col. Charles Galbreath (Ret.) put it, “The space domain is more congested, contested, and competitive than ever. The challenges and threats facing the United States and our allies are growing at an alarming rate.”

But as the session unfolded, it was clear that the four space leaders held the conviction that through their “collaboration, cooperation, and coalition” as spacefaring nations, they indeed will be able to partner and win in the domain.

Opening an international space dialogue
For Air Marshal Smyth, he attributes the standing up of the U.S. Space Force and Space Command as a hefty contributing factor to the U.K. opening a formal discussion around their own military space operations. “I think it’s probably fair to say that had we not seen the U.S. Space Force and a U.S. Space Command, I’m not confident that I could have landed the argument across the government to stand up a U.K. Space Command,” he said.

He went on to acknowledge that at this point in military history, having his nation prioritize space as a warfighting domain is critical as the pace of space threats are picking up speed as well as continuously manifesting themselves in different ways. “Those two things have really aligned us in the U.K. to accelerate our approach,” Air Marshal Smyth explained. “It’s also fair to say that we would not have been able to accelerate that approach had it not have been for the dialogue with the U.S. We’ve been very grateful for that clear partnership of bilateral and multilateral…space ops initiatives.”

But the gratitude of these multilateral partnerships is not just directed towards the U.S. from its allies. According to Lt. Gen. Guetlein, the conflict in Ukraine has served as a reminder to him of the critical importance of international partnerships in the space domain. “I would say going into Ukraine, we probably were not thinking about coalitions as much as we possibly should,” he said. “I will tell you though, now that we’re fully ingrained in that conflict, it all becomes about coalitions. And what we do know going forward, especially in the space domain, is that we can’t do it alone.”

He went on to say that the U.S. must continue to leverage allied partnerships in order to stay one step ahead of its adversaries. “If I look at what is the U.S.’ competitive advantage, it’s our partnerships,” he explained.

As it pertains to space, the competitive advantage of allied partnerships comes in many forms. For Lt. Gen. Kenny, allied coalitions represent a monumental opportunity to bring together and share joint space capabilities.

“We need to work together as allies and partners,” he said. “From a Canadian perspective, one of the things that we’re focused on is what are some of the niche capabilities? What are some of the gaps that we can help fulfill, so that we’re not duplicating efforts, and that we’re building a more resilient and proliferated orbit and capability that can allow us to conduct operations worldwide, as allies and partners?”

Tackling the space threat together
For Lt. Gen. Guetlein, the founding of the Space Force has created many different avenues for tackling the space threat alongside U.S. allies. “[Space] is not new for the U.S.,” he said. “What is new for the U.S. is…we are actually talking about the threat [with allies] at levels that I was never allowed to talk about my entire career, and we’re doing it openly in the public…[The dialogue] is no longer ‘what can you give me.’ It is ‘what can we each provide, in a certain synergistic effect to get after the space threat.’”

Air Marshal Smyth agreed with Lt. Gen. Guetlein by saying that the open dialogue between the allied nations has benefited an international, integrated deterrence in the space domain. “We’ve seen the doors open from the U.S.,” he explained. “We’re delivering more together and building a coalition so that a potential adversary doesn’t see the world through the lens of ‘it’s us versus another country’…But they see it as ‘us versus everyone else.’ That in itself is a very deterrent position to be in.”

Lt. Gen. Guetlein agreed that the more aligned the U.S. and her allies are on the topics of space values, responsible behavior in the domain, as well as deterrence, it sends a very strong signal to the coalition’s adversaries. “Our competitors are not operating responsibly nor safely in space,” he explained. “But we are. We’ve got to continue to keep sending that signal…They may be able to take on one of us at a time, but they cannot take on all of us at once.”

To learn more about this year’s Air, Space, & Cyber Conference, click HERE.

The post “Delivering More Together” – U.S. and Allied Space Leaders Highlight Importance of Joint Coalitions at AFA 2023 appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

This announcement by AFRL is the third award under the DEUCSI CALL 003 Program seeking experimentation for use cases in the Artic region and airborne communications.

The DEUCSI program is intended to establish communications with military platforms via multiple commercial space internet (CSI) constellations in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) utilizing a common user terminal with the ability to alternate between space broadband providers.

“An integrated multi-orbit, multi-band satellite architecture is a requirement in today’s contested and congested environment for a network-centric military,” said SES Space & Defense Senior Vice President of Space Initiatives, Jim Hooper. “The DEUCSI program is a great example to showcase SES Space & Defense’s multi-orbit, multi-band holistic approach to deliver seamless interoperability to the U.S. Air Force to achieve unparalleled situation awareness and strategic advances for mission success.”

As the industry’s leading COMSATCOM integrator, SES Space & Defense, a wholly-owned subsidiary of SES focused on delivering satellite network solutions for the U.S. Government, will demonstrate multi-orbit, multi-band solutions that seamlessly switch among commercial space broadband services in different frequency bands to access favorable spectrum or failover between constellations.

In doing so, SES Space & Defense will leverage common hardware elements to communicate with commercial space broadband constellations and military communications systems to provide greater flexibility in communication paths while minimizing the deployment of constellation-specific hardware.

The post SES Space & Defense to Demonstrate Multi-Orbit, Multi-Band Satellite for the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

During a recent Mitchell Institute Schreiver Spacepower Forum, Gen Shaw sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) to examine the three distinct Space Ages that the U.S. government and military have operated within. They also discussed the role that commercial space has played during the most recent Third Space Age where the domain has become contested by adversarial actions and threats.

The three Space Ages
From Gen Shaw’s viewpoint, there have been three Space Ages thus far. He explained that the first Space Age began at the start of the Cold War and was primarily focused on national security and scientific exploration through the Apollo missions. Gen Shaw noted that during this era there was little to no commercial presence. The commercial space industry would not be involved until cable television took off during the tail end, which represented industry’s initial footprint in the domain. “[Commercial space] was very nascent in that time,” said Gen Shaw. “We all wanted our MTV.”

Towards the closing of the Cold War, there was an inflection point that Gen Shaw attributes to the dawn of the Second Space Age. “What had been our adversaries in the space domain ended up partnering with us to do the International Space Station,” said Gen Shaw. Those collaborations represented the Second Space Age from a civil standpoint, but from a national security standpoint, it wasn’t until the Gulf War that space was truly leveraged for military missions.

“The Gulf War happened right at that inflection point,” said Gen Shaw. “That was also where I began and spent most of my career delivering space capabilities to the tactical level: GPS, ISR, missile warning, etc.” According to Gen Shaw, this era also saw a spike in commercial space activity. Commercial companies already had been doing work in Geosynchronous Orbit (GEO) by then, but during this period, they began to experiment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) as well. “But the government capabilities were still sort of the premier capabilities that we knew of and used,” said Gen Shaw.

“We leverage…commercial activity and capabilities across the spectrum – SATCOM, space domain awareness, and imaging – in ways that we never really did earlier…There’s a dependence that we have on them now that is part of our broader force set that we bring.” – Lt Gen John E. Shaw

The Third Space Age, according to Gen Shaw, began around 2015 when commercial space companies began to test and demonstrate extraordinary capabilities that had never been seen before. This was a time when the world saw its first operational large-scale satellite proliferation in LEO. Another major marker of this Third Space Age was the realization that the space domain was no longer a benign environment. “It was in 2015 that we first started talking publicly…that there were now threats in the domain,” said Gen Shaw.

The contested space domain

Though space as a warfighting domain may not have been publicly discussed until 2015, there was plenty of evidence of that fact before then.

“In 2007, we had the Chinese do an ASAT test,” said Gen Chilton. “But it takes us eight years to finally come to admit that, yes, it is indeed a warfighting domain?” And adversarial actions in the space arena have only escalated since that time. As Gen Chilton also pointed out, U.S. adversaries and near-peer competitors in recent years are demonstrating aggressive capabilities that could jeopardize the security and safety of American assets in space.

“Today, U.S. Space Command now operates in a domain where threats are on the rise,” said Gen Chilton. “Adversaries like China are increasingly seeking to contest this domain. Their capabilities include everything from ground-based direct ascent missiles, to electronic warfare, jamming, and co-orbital rendezvous satellites. The impact on U.S. national security interests is significant.”

Gen Shaw explained that the realization that the U.S. needed to be prepared to defend against adversarial threats in space led to the creation of the U.S. Space Force and U.S. Space Command. During the forum, he addressed some of the pessimistic viewpoints surrounding the creation of the Space Force in 2019. “There were a lot of naysayers at the time,” he said. “Was this a good idea? But looking back, it was a brilliant move.”

“Today, U.S. Space Command operates in a domain where threats are on the rise. Adversaries like China are increasingly seeking to contest this domain. Their capabilities include everything from ground-based direct ascent missiles, to electronic warfare, jamming, and co-orbital rendezvous satellites. The impact on U.S. national security interests is significant.” – Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.)

According to Gen Shaw, all of the challenges that the government acknowledged in 2015 have only continued to advance and grow. “If we were trying to stand up the Space Command and Space Force now, four years later, we would be much further behind in addressing these threats, making the environment more secure for all the participants that are going to be there, and strengthening all those partnerships across all the sectors,” said Gen Shaw.

Commercial space in the Third Space Age

Gen Shaw noted that the Third Space Age has really brought all of the space sectors together in a unique way that was never before witnessed in the first two Space Ages. “Another interesting dynamic in this Third Space Age…is all of those sectors – civil, scientific, commercial, and national security – are now interdependent in ways they certainly weren’t in the First Space Age, and mostly not in the Second Space Age,” said Gen Shaw.

“We leveraged from a national security perspective, commercial activity and capabilities across the spectrum – SATCOM, space domain awareness, and imaging – in ways that we never really did earlier, to a greater degree. There’s a dependence that we have on them now that is part of our broader force set that we bring.”

As for the specific relationship the U.S. government and military have with the commercial space industry, Gen Shaw describes it as a solid partnership. “We’re in a symbiotic relationship with commercial space today,” he said. “We support them and their operations to operate safely and securely, but they also provide capabilities to us.”

He explained that the SATCOM, imagery, and space domain awareness capabilities that industry provides to the government and military are extremely critical. “We rely on commercial imagery now more than we ever have,” said Gen Shaw. “In those early days of the Ukraine conflict, I think we all watched the news stations that were showing imagery of that Russian convoy that was stalled outside Kyiv…Was that declassified NRO government imagery that we were seeing on the news? That was not. It was commercial, and it was pretty timely.”

Gen Shaw went on to say that the advancements coming out of the commercial space industry are not only impressive, but they are promoting global transparency amongst the world governments. “It was achieving more than just a news need,” said Gen Shaw. “It was actually achieving an international awareness need.”

Click the video below to watch the Spacepower Forum in its entirety.

The post U.S. Space Command Deputy Commander: There Have Been Three Distinct Space Ages appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

One of the military’s industry partners working to define a new paradigm for satcom ground resiliency is ALL.SPACE, which is launching the world’s first full-performance multi-orbit, multi-link SMART terminal. Recently, Chief Commercial Officer Scott Sprague shared his thoughts on the military’s changing requirements and how ALL.SPACE is leading the charge for a more resilient and flexible ground segment.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Can you tell our readers a bit about ALL.SPACE. What types of solutions does the company develop, and what markets does it serve?

Scott Sprague: We’re a pre-revenue deep tech company building a smart terminal specifically focused on supporting the warfighter. We offer a unique solution that has never been fielded before –  a terminal that communicates with multiple satellites in different constellations simultaneously. Our initial market focus is the defense market – specifically, the U.S. government, NATO, and Five Eyes countries (Australia, Canada, New Zealand, United Kingdom, and the United States). As we evolve our technology from a volume and cost perspective, we’ll start to look at serving other commercially-defined markets.

GSR: What is a Smart Terminal? How is this technology different from the terminals and antennas that the military is currently utilizing?

Scott Sprague: Most of what the military has fielded today, other than at the very highest end of the market with large defense contractors, has been single-beam parabolic technology. Those antennas are very efficient at talking to a single geostationary satellite at one time, but do not support the US military’s desire to communicate with multiple satellites and orbits and across multiple bands simultaneously.

Our new SMART terminal allows us to have multiple, full-performance links so that when you turn on an additional link, it doesn’t affect the performance of the first link, and you can communicate with different satellite assets across different orbits simultaneously. That means the military can provide a very high level of resiliency across their communication paths.

If you think about what’s going on recently with the conflict in the Ukraine, where Russia has been able to jam and interrupt communication networks, or how China is utilizing technology to disable satellites in orbit, the ability to be able to communicate with multiple satellites over different orbital constellations provides a level of security that hasn’t been possible before.

GSR: We continue to hear the military talk about the need for multi-orbit and multi-band satellite communications. What trends and challenges are driving these requirements in the military today?

Scott Sprague: If you think about satellite industry over the last decade, it was predominantly GEO-based satellite assets – Ku, Ka, C, and some X-band. The only non-geostationary assets other than military assets were on SES’s O3b MEO constellation. So, the government had limited options to utilize multiple assets simultaneously to provide resiliency in their networks.

But over the last few years, with the launch of new constellations at LEO, and with SES’s new O3b mPOWER MEO satellites coming into play, the government is afforded a vast variety of satellite assets that they can utilize from a commercial perspective to augment what they have on the government side, both in LEO but also in GEO to provide a more resilient network for the warfighter.

But to do that, there needs to be changes on the ground segment on the terminal side. The military needs terminal assets that would allow them to use these different satellite constellations. That’s what had been lagging behind until the development of the ALL.SPACE SMART terminal range.

GSR: What would true multiband multi-orbit comms look like for the military? What kind of impact would it have on warfighters at the tip of the spear?

Scott Sprague: Today’s warfighter must field more pieces of equipment to communicate with all the constellations available to them over Ku and Ka-band. Theoretically, a deployment could have up to five or ten different satellite terminals in the field that would help them facilitate communication to multiple satellite assets. Or, they would have to switch out hardware in the field associated with a single parabolic.

A true multi-band, multi-beam terminal significantly simplifies what’s fielded to support resilient communications. That’s important because increasingly, enlisted soldiers, not trained communications specialists, must deploy these communication devices in the field. So, simplifying the ground side still allows organizations to quickly deploy technology and access multiple satellite assets.

This plug-and-play capability is critical to the seamless deployment of both multi-orbit multi-band satellite communication assets as well as ground infrastructure. And that really is the focus of ALL.SPACE and the ALL.SPACE SMART terminal: to facilitate that very quick and seamless deployment of a resilient satellite-based communication network.

GSR: What is needed to make this concept of multi-band, multi-orbit satellite communications a reality? Does it require changes in the ground segment? Space segment?

Scott Sprague: When you think of the goal of being able to access a multi-band, multi-orbit satellite communications network, the reality is that the satellites are there today, but by design, they do not talk to each other.. To be able to leverage those satellite assets, things needed to change on the ground with a terminal that would allow an end user to access those different satellite networks simultaneously, bringing that information back to a central device, and then consolidating and managing that information via the intelligence inherent in a smart terminal.

GSR: We’re seeing a proliferation of new satellite constellations and new orbits. Why are services like these exciting for the military and why would a service like O3b mPOWER be used for today’s military and the military’s modern requirements?

Scott Sprague: The proliferation of new constellations, including new non-geostationary constellations, brings a set of capabilities to the U.S. military that never existed before now. LEO networks have very low latency, high throughput, and mostly global coverage. Those satellites can support some of the evolving use cases that the warfighter has.

When you look at SES’s O3b mPOWER network, it combines both low latency and very high throughput. It also has extreme flexibility given the smart design of the O3b mPOWER satellites that allow end users to move capacity and coverage around on a case-by-case basis. With thousands of beams associated with the O3b mPOWER network, it provides unprecedented coverage and flexibility to warfighters.

Another unique feature of the O3b mPOWER network is you can go from terminal to terminal, and you don’t have to go back to a gateway. Why is that important? It adds resiliency and security into the network for the warfighter. Think about the ability to go ship to ship directly via an O3b mPOWER link. That kind of capability is extremely powerful for the US Navy. As previously mentioned, our focus at ALL.SPACE is to support the defense market first and foremost. Having a multi-orbit communication package that can be supported with a single ground terminal will allow communications across allied forces utilizing similar dispersed ground networks. When you look at O3b mPOWER, the ability to communicate from terminal to terminal definitely supports that type of inter-operational communication between allies.

GSR: Can ALL.SPACE terminals work with O3b mPOWER, and what advantages will the military receive from leveraging both our terminal and the O3b network?

Scott Sprague: The ALL.SPACE terminal is designed and configured to work with O3b mPOWER.  Our terminal’s advantage is when it’s coupled with the O3b mPOWER network, it can communicate directly with O3b mPOWER, while at the same time simultaneously being connected to a GEO satellite, whether that’s a commercial GEO satellite or over government-owned geostationary satellite like WGS. And again, that gives a tremendous amount of resiliency and end-user flexibility in choosing which satellite assets to use to support their missions.

With the O3b mPOWER network coming into play, our ALL.SPACE terminal is very easy to deploy on a global basis. So, whether our terminal is on board a ship or on top of a U.S. or allied vehicle, it’s very easy to deploy to give users immediate access to the O3b mPOWER network.

The post ALL.SPACE CCO on Redefining the Ground Segment with Smarter, More Flexible, Multi-link Connectivity appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

To learn more about how the DoD will leverage the BPA, how it fits into the movement towards an integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM space architecture, as well as how commercial partnerships played a role in delivering this global solution, the Government Satellite Report sat down with Hugh Keane, Senior BD Manager at SES Space & Defense.

GSR: This BPA – which was awarded through DISA and Space Force – essentially gives military organizations a contract vehicle to procure military X-Band COMSATCOM services. What types of organizations and services within the military do you anticipate utilizing this BPA? Why would these military organizations need access to this capability?

Hugh Keane: We see several types of organizations using this BPA. At the combatant command level, we see various use cases for X-Band as part of PACE (Primary, Alternate, Contingency, and Emergency) communications plans for main operating bases, or as a resource that they can distribute to their component users through something like a Satellite Access Request model – whether that’s for exercises or real-world missions.

For the services, some are already users of X-Band on well-established contract vehicles. We see the X-Band BPA as being able to support those users on proof-of-concept work or for short-term requirements that may lie outside the scope of their usual contracting mechanisms.

This vehicle is creating a simple path for all U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) end-users to get access to X-Band, whether that’s raw megahertz capacity or full end-to-end services. And it is the first time that such a vehicle has existed to give this type of X-Band access to the DoD and its end-users. It’s really going to facilitate rapid time-to-order and time-to-activate for those X-Band services.

Many of the organizations are equipped with hardware that will work on WGS in X-Band. So, depending on the mission of the individual end-user, they might not always have priority on WGS. The X-Band BPA will provide an avenue for them to get service without having to change out expensive equipment sets and move to Ka or Ku, for example.

There are also those missions that do require the capabilities that are either inherent to the frequency range of X-Band itself, or some of the capabilities that are inherent to those X-Band satellites.

GSR:  Why is military X-Band important? What differentiates military X-Band from commercial Ka or Ku-band satellite services? Why would this be important for the DoD?

Hugh Keane: Military X-Band is important in many ways. It’s in wide use today because of the WGS satellites and there are many X-Band terminals out there, whether they are land, maritime, or aero terminals. The nature of WGS – and with a finite set of WGS satellites – means there’s not always sufficient capacity to fulfill all user requirements. As such, X-Band on commercial satellites supplements WGS very well, allowing those lower-priority missions to have non-preemptible capacity.

It also provides a greater battle space in which the DoD can operate with enhanced resiliency, by having access to both the military and the commercial X-Band satellites. In addition to that, one of the great advantages of the X-Band frequency spectrum, itself, is that it provides highly reliable and high link availability communications in regions where Ku band and Ka band might struggle due to the high rain fade. In fact, this makes it possibly the best solution in certain parts of the world.

“All the geographic combatant commands have access to X-Band capacity within their areas of responsibility (AOR) through the BPA…” -Hugh Keane

Also, given that X-Band is reserved for military and government use, the satellites themselves tend to be equipped with greater security than purely commercial satellites. With features like highly secure TTNC encryption, anti-jamming capabilities, and – in certain cases on some of the satellites – hardening against nuclear attack. All these features combined, contribute to the resiliency and the availability of the communications links, and as such, they become a bit more desirable for ”no-fail” missions.

GSR: SES Space & Defense has called the service that it’s offering the DoD a “global satellite capacity.” Is this solution truly global? Are there any locations or geographies where the solution will not be available?

Hugh Keane: The service offers the DoD global satellite capacity. All the geographic combatant commands have access to X-Band capacity within their areas of responsibility (AOR) through the BPA and there are multiple coverage options in many locations of significant activity; apart from a small gap in coverage in the Pacific. With regard to that, we will continue to explore options and opportunities throughout the life of the BPA to provide even greater coverage and alternative coverage as the customers need.

GSR: To deliver on this contract, SES Space & Defense claims to have, “partnered with several industry-leading players, including integrators, SATCOM, and teleport operators.” What does this mean? Why was a partnership with these other industry partners necessary to deliver a global solution for the military?

Hugh Keane: SES has a great X-Band asset capability in GovSat-1. This is a relatively new satellite launched in 2018 and it provides good, flexible coverage through both fixed and steerable beams for all types of missions,  whether maritime, land, or aero missions in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.

However, those regions demand flexibility, redundancy, and alternative solutions so we look to our trusted industry partners for additional capacity. And in part, the SES acquisition of DRS GES plays a role here, due to GES’ background as an integrator, and also as a long-term provider of end-to-end X-Band services to their customers.

Drawing on those relationships, we created partnerships to have access to all the commercially available X-Band fleets. That includes partnerships with XTAR for access to the XTAR LANT and EUR satellites, Airbus for access to Skynet, and also the future Syracuse satellites – Syracuse 4A and 4B. And with Anuvu for access to other satellites and their Holmdel teleport. On the teleport side, we have access to multiple teleports, with partners at Telespazio, Santander, MBS, and USEI that deliver services in every combatant command AOR.

“One of the great benefits of the BPA is its flexibility of the broad scope it has when it comes to the provision of X-Band and its enabling elements.” -Hugh Keane

The whole globe is covered in terms of teleport requirements. We also have a number of major antenna providers enabling access to a range of terminals, whether commercial grade terminals or a full build spec standard terminal – depending on what the customer requires.

However, not all those capabilities reside in-house, that’s why we  partnered with several industry-leading players in order to offer the government the most comprehensive solution. The BPA also provides capacity throughout the life of the vehicle to update capabilities, so we can add new beams and new teleports as they become available.

GSR: What will the DoD need to utilize this global X-Band service? Will it have to buy specialized equipment and hardware – new antenna and terminal solutions?

Hugh Keane: One of the great benefits of the BPA is its flexibility of the broad scope it has when it comes to the provision of X-Band and its enabling elements. Through the BPA, we can simply provide raw megahertz of X-Band and we can provide end-to-end X-Band services. That is the space segment, the commercial teleport, and the terrestrial transport.

We can also lease or sell X-Band terminals. Because of WGS, if the user has an X-Band terminal that they use on WGS, they can utilize said terminal. The customer doesn’t need to buy any new equipment. And we can provide them with the service through the existing assets that they have, whether that’s simply bandwidth, or perhaps they also want to use that asset and access a commercial teleport and then have terrestrial backhaul to their home enterprise if needed.

Because of the flexibility of the BPA, if the customer doesn’t have the terminal today, or if they need to supplement terminals – we can provide them the full remote equipment set from scratch, both with buy and lease options. It’s very flexible.

In the end, if the customer already has the equipment, that’s great! We can provide them the services as they need it. But if they don’t have the equipment and they need access to it, we can do that as well.

GSR: How does this BPA play a role in the movement towards adopting the integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM architecture that the DoD has been talking about for the past decade?

Hugh Keane: It certainly plays a role. We need to praise the U.S. Space Force for putting this BPA in place. Before we had this BPA, we worked with various DoD partners to provide an architecture that enabled roaming between WGS and COMSATCOM X-Band and that also included the provision of commercial teleports and peripheral backhaul.

“The BPA will have a positive effect – it allows rapid access to commercial X-Band satellite capacity and its enabling elements, not to mention greatly expands the capability sets of the DoD.” -Hugh Keane

I will say, though, in establishing the BPA, Space Force has now created an avenue that never existed before and is allowing all DoD users to access that type of service and capability for the integration of those MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM architectures. This is really enabled in the BPA allowing reduced time-to-order and time-to-activation of services. Space Force has greatly facilitated this integration by putting this vehicle in place.

GSR: What effect will the addition of this commercial global X-Band satellite capacity have on the military’s satellite architecture? Will it make it more secure? More assured? Why or why not?

Hugh Keane: The BPA will have a positive effect – it allows rapid access to commercial X-Band satellite capacity and its enabling elements, not to mention greatly expands the capability sets of the DoD. They now have COMSATCOM assets along with the ground infrastructure available in every AOR that can supplement and indeed work in tandem with WGS. By having that they increase the availability and resiliency of their communications pathways through access to a greater range of satellites, and ground assets.

To learn more about the Global X-Band BPA, read the official press release HERE.

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But today’s modern satellite applications would not be made possible without their ground segment counterparts. Within the space and satellite industries, ground segments can sometimes be viewed as “unsung heroes,” and without the support of terrestrial networks on the ground, the critical services that both military and civilian agencies depend on for daily business would not exist.

To learn more about terrestrial networks and ground segments, as well as the role they play in supporting government and military missions, the Government Satellite Report sat down with Nikhil Junankar, Director of Network Engineering at SES Space & Defense.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): When we discuss satellite services, we often focus on the satellites, themselves. However, there is also a terrestrial network and ground segment that plays a role in these services. What role does the ground segment play in satellite communications? What is this ground segment composed of?

Nikhil Junankar: The ground segment is an integral component that often goes overlooked in favor of focusing solely on the satellites themselves. However, understanding the role of the ground segment is crucial to comprehending the full picture of end-to-end satellite solutions.

Comprised of a diverse range of elements, the ground segment plays a pivotal role in facilitating effective and reliable global satellite communications. The ground segment consists of ground stations, control centers, and Network Operations Centers (NOCs) that are all connected by a terrestrial fiber network.

Ground stations establish bidirectional communication with the satellites, and include teleports, satellite gateways, and deployed satellite terminals. Furthermore, teleports serve as centralized hubs, managing the routing and distribution of satellite traffic, while control centers monitor and manage satellite operations, ensuring optimal functionality and coordinating activities like orbit adjustments. NOCs, on the other hand, handle network operations, traffic routing, troubleshooting, and security, maintaining the integrity of the ground segment network.

“While satellites capture a lot of attention in the media and public, the ground segment plays an indispensable role.” -Nikhil Junankar

The ground segment encompasses terrestrial fiber networks, enabling connectivity between the teleports, gateways, and the broader network ecosystem. These terrestrial networks serve as the backbone for exchanging data between other ground segment elements, that include customer points of presence, the Internet, and the cloud. They facilitate the seamless transfer of information, supporting voice, data, and video services.

While satellites capture a lot of attention in the media and public, the ground segment plays an indispensable role. It enables the delivery of services, supports satellite operations and control, and ensures the reliability, efficiency, and widespread coverage of satellite communications.

GSR: Is the ground segment and terrestrial network something that satellite customers can design and build themselves, or are they reliant on their satellite service providers for this network?

Nikhil Junankar: Unlike many of our competitors, we offer a unique approach with our sovereign service offerings. We empower our customers by providing the flexibility to design and build their own ground segment and terrestrial network within our ecosystem. At SES Space & Defense, we understand that each customer may have specific requirements and preferences when it comes to their network infrastructure.

With our open approach, customers can take an active role in designing and implementing their ground segment and tailoring it to their specific needs. While certain essential functions, such as NOC operations and satellite control, remain under SES’s purview to ensure seamless integration and overall system reliability, customers have the freedom to shape their network architecture within our framework.

This approach allows our customers to have greater control and ownership over their satellite communication infrastructure while benefiting from the expertise and support provided by SES.

GSR: What are some of the key characteristics customers should be looking for in a satellite provider’s terrestrial network and ground segment? What considerations should they keep in mind when evaluating providers?

Nikhil Junankar: When evaluating a satellite provider’s terrestrial network and ground segment, customers should consider several key characteristics to ensure they choose a reliable and robust service. One crucial aspect to prioritize is availability. In today’s digital age, the internet has become a utility, and customers should seek a provider that can deliver a consistently available connection. This includes addressing redundancy and recovery measures at every level of the ground segment.

For a highly available ground segment, aspects such as power supply to ground stations, UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) design (such as N+1 or 1:1 redundancy), on-site generators, and the frequency of generator testing should be taken into account. Adequate redundancy in these areas ensures that power failures or other disruptions do not lead to service outages.

“Overall, customers should prioritize availability, redundancy, and disaster recovery measures when evaluating a satellite provider’s terrestrial network and ground segment.” -Nikhil Junankar

Another consideration is redundancy in antenna systems. Multiple antennas with failover capabilities provide backup options in case of antenna failures, ensuring uninterrupted satellite communication. This redundancy enhances the reliability of the overall system.

In terms of the terrestrial network, diverse circuit and fiber routes are important. By utilizing multiple routes, providers can mitigate the risk of service disruption. Diverse routing helps ensure that a single point of failure does not impact the entire network.

Overall, customers should prioritize availability, redundancy, and disaster recovery measures when evaluating a satellite provider’s terrestrial network and ground segment. By considering these factors and selecting a provider that demonstrates a commitment to these key characteristics, customers can ensure a reliable and uninterrupted satellite communication service.

GSR: What is SES Space & Defense’s GCN? What separates and differentiates the GCN from other satellite services and ground segments?

Nikhil Junankar: SES Space & Defense’s Global Communications Network (GCN) connects satellite services to the various ground segment elements with its carrier-grade MPLS network. With Layer 2 and Layer 3 VPN, high-speed Internet, and seamless cloud integration, the GCN empowers customers worldwide. What sets it apart is the active Authority to Operate (ATO) and Authority to Connect (ATC) from the U.S. government, ensuring robust security and compliance. Customers benefit from the GCN’s stringent security protocols and compliance with industry best practices. Their critical data and communication channels are protected by robust security measures, ensuring confidentiality, integrity, and availability requirements are met.

The GCN is a transformative force in end-to-end satellite solutions. Its carrier-grade MPLS network, comprehensive services, and active ATO and ATC deliver secure, scalable, and reliable connectivity.

GSR: What different kinds of satellite services can customers get connected to through SES Space & Defense’s GCN? Can they only access services from SES’s satellite constellations?

Nikhil Junankar: The GCN goes beyond the SES satellite constellation by offering customers access to a variety of satellite services. As an agnostic network, the GCN provides terrestrial and backhaul connectivity from multiple operators.

We have peering arrangements with all major operators to deliver multi-orbit, multi-band solutions. Additionally, the GCN seamlessly supports SES’s upcoming O3b mPOWER satellite constellation. Customers can enjoy the flexibility to choose services that best suit their needs, leveraging the extensive reach and capabilities of the GCN.

While satellites often take centerstage, ground segments are the “unsung heroes” of government satellite ecosystems. Leveraging SES Space & Defense’s open approach and sovereign service offerings in conjunction with the GCN, enables customers to tailor their ground segments and terrestrial networks to their specific requirements while benefiting from robust security and reliable connectivity.

To view SES Space & Defense’s global network coverage, click the image below:

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This new BPA will give the DoD access to an X-band communications satellite network capable of delivering assured, secure satellite connectivity in support of missions being conducted in virtually any location on the globe.

To deliver a near-global solution, SES Space & Defense has partnered with several industry-leading players, including integrators, SATCOM, and teleport operators. Together, the contracted satellite operators will deliver Global X-Band satellite capacity, teleport and network services over a highly secure global terrestrial network, and other ancillary services to meet enduring and emerging DoD requirements.

To provide secure satellite communications services, one of the many satellites that SES Space & Defense will leverage is the multi-mission GovSat-1 satellite.

“SES Space & Defense believes the BPA is one of the foundation blocks in accelerating MILSATCOM-COMSATCOM integration for the space enterprise. The US Space Force established this contract as a mechanism to enable access to commercial X-band capacity globally for the DoD,” said SES Space & Defense President and CEO David Fields.

The Global X-Band BPA is the first integration services agreement awarded to SES Space & Defense since the acquisition of DRS GES by SES was finalized in August 2022. SES Space & Defense is dedicated to delivering the most trusted end-to-end global communications through a fully integrated Information and Communications Technology Ecosystem to the U.S. government and military.

“We have partnered with industry-leading X-Band owners and operators as we understand the demand for secure, non-preemptible mission-assured capacity for critical operations,” Fields explained. “By combining satellite capacity, SATCOM services can achieve the highest availability with redundant X-Band coverage and diverse gateway connectivity within sovereign space.”

To learn more about this revolutionary BPA announcement, click HERE.

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