Earlier this week, it was announced that Air Combat Command (ACC) selected Bushtex, a women-owned satellite communications provider that currently delivers commercial services for RPA operations for a variety of Department of Defense (DoD), Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and other U.S. government agencies, to support their training and testing requirements.

As part of this contract, commercial satellite provider, SES Space and Defense, will be partnering with Bushtex to deliver the necessary satellite bandwidth needed to accomplish the ever important mission of preparing America’s warfighters and ensuring their readiness for facing the nation’s adversaries.

According to SES Space and Defense CEO, Pete Hoene, Bushtex will leverage SES Space and Defense’s satellite communication services to deploy a network that will, “allow [the ACC] to conduct training and operations that help validate and refine Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures.”

This new contract is just another example of the ways in which the United States military relies on commercial satellite providers, and that reliance isn’t expected to decrease in the near future. In fact, it’s expected to grow as the military turns to COMSATCOM as a cheaper, faster and more resilient way to get access to essential space capabilities.

As we’ve heard many times from military leaders in the past, the pace of innovation within the commercial satellite industry is much faster than the pace of innovation that the military can keep and support. With satellites constantly being built and launched, commercial operators have both the flexibility and ability to embrace the newest satellite technologies as they’re developed.

But innovation isn’t the only benefit the military receives from embracing COMSATCOM. Utilizing commercial satellites for carrying mission critical services and communications can increase resiliency and help to insulate the military from adversaries that know of the advantages our military receives from space, and actively look to deny those advantages to the warfighter.

This new contract from Air Combat Command reinforces and validates the important role that COMSATCOM plays in the military. It’s also just one of many new satellite services contracts that the industry anticipates in the future, as the role of COMSATCOM in the military expands and evolves.