GSR Podcast: Why is NGSO COMSATCOM in This Year’s NDAA?

Towards the end of every year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) slides across the President’s desk for signature, effectively cementing the U.S. military budget – as well as other Department of Defense (DoD) priorities and requirements – for the following fiscal year.

Last December, President Biden signed the NDAA for Fiscal Year 2022 (FY22), but unlike previous years, FY22’s NDAA included some rather unique and noteworthy amendments and requests. For the first time in years, Congress has interestingly added a call in FY22’s NDAA which requires the DoD to report on its utilization of COMSATCOM services from non-geostationary orbits (NGSO) for delivering connectivity to the warfighter.

You may be asking, why are NGSO COMSATCOM initiatives all of a sudden such an important topic for Congress? Why does Congress care about the SATCOM connectivity for warfighters? And what COMSATCOM services does the military currently use, and what capabilities do they enable for the warfighter?

To answer these questions – and much, much more – the Government Satellite Report Podcast hosted SES Space and Defense’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Marketing and Corporate Communications – Jon Bennett.

During the discussion, Government Satellite Report Executive Editor, Ryan Schradin, asked Jon about the current state of military connectivity, what connectivity data Congress is looking to gather, as well as what would the process would look like for Congress to provide the necessary funds to embrace NGSO COMSATCOM.

To listen to the podcast, click the PLAY button below:

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