The goal is a future military SATCOM enterprise that will leverage all available satellite capability in a way that is transparent to the user, much like turning on a cell phone. Several key government programs will help enable this vision, with the linchpin being enterprise management and control (EM&C).

Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. is one of the companies playing a key role in achieving both the broader strategy, and EM&C in particular. We recently spoke with Frank Backes, senior vice president for Federal Space at Kratos, to discuss EM&C, and how it will open the door for the military to embrace next-generation satellite solutions, including the SES O3b mPOWER satellite service.

Here is what Frank told us:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): What is EM&C and why is it something the military needs?

Frank Backes: EM&C supports the military’s strategic goal to operate an integrated SATCOM enterprise, and increases assured SATCOM access for the warfighter with legacy and next-generation terminals. It seeks to improve the effectiveness of the DoD’s critical SATCOM infrastructure by enhancing resilience.

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. It allows military and commercial satellite communications systems to be tied seamlessly into the terrestrial infrastructure.

For example, Kratos’ Global Sensor Network helps the government detect and resolve RF spectrum challenges. With EM&C, data collected through this network and other sensor networks, such as the SES satellite network, is fused and pulled into the Unified Data Library (UDL) and accessed by our military.

EM&C gathers data from sensors into one accessible, cloud-based environment that can be viewed through a common operating picture. Its success rides on providing clear, concise, and actionable data to decision-makers in an operationally relevant timeframe.

GSR: What benefits would an integrated commercial and military satellite architecture deliver to the military?

Frank Backes: We believe an integrated architecture allows the military to leverage the investments the commercial sector have made in innovative technologies. Advanced commercial technologies have added benefits, including increased resilience to interference, jamming, or environmental effects, far more rapid resource allocation, improved situational awareness, and increased bandwidth utilization efficiencies.

“…multiple organizations independently pursuing their own mission needs have produced a number of ground-based proprietary satellite communication solutions, which have created a lack of interoperability between different commercial services and the armed forces.” – Frank Backes

The military can benefit from commercial innovation if they can switch seamlessly between government and commercial satellites – regardless of ownership. Operating as a seamless network enterprise gives the military more options allowing flexibility, scalability, and resiliency.

GSR: What are the current technological impediments to this being a possibility? What interoperability challenges exist?

Frank Backes: Unfortunately, multiple organizations independently pursuing their own mission needs have produced a number of ground-based proprietary satellite communication solutions, which have created a lack of interoperability between different commercial services and the armed forces. Those same proprietary solutions remain roadblocks to a dynamic SATCOM infrastructure supporting communication for an evolving military theater.

Right now, terminals cannot automatically switch between different satellites, and warfighters are challenged to communicate to networks outside of their domain. If terminals are jammed, it can be time-consuming to execute the current system to locate and help switch to reliable communication links. If redundant terminals or gateways are not available, alternative waveforms may not be automatically accessible.

These challenges go beyond our own military and answers must include a holistic approach that ties in our allies.

GSR: What is the Flexible Terminal Interface (FTI) and what role will this play in enabling an integrated satellite architecture?

Frank Backes: FTI is an interface standard that has been defined by our government. It can be added to existing terminals as either a software or lightweight hardware-based interface upgrade. It provides management and communication functions, plus, it allows roaming between terminals that would not normally communicate with each other.

“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.” – Frank Backes

EM&C determines why, when, and how the system should roam and transition utilizing flexible terminals to access diverse SATCOM resources. EM&C enables the terminal to have awareness of other network options operating on alternate satellites and automatically switch to new networks to avoid interference. By monitoring the RF environment and impacts to performance, its system logic determines best available SATCOM resources, coordinating and connecting users on each end as needed.

Think of it as being like a roaming cell phone capability. It doesn’t matter if you have AT&T or Verizon or Sprint, you can talk to anyone regardless of the provider.

GSR: What pilot programs and testing programs is the military conducting regarding the FTI and EM&C? What work is Kratos doing on these programs?

Frank Backes: The U.S. Air Force has continued to define details of the EM&C architecture over the past several years. These efforts have included funding a Pilot Phase 1 study, which solicited feedback from Industry on possible solutions and recommended architectures, followed by a Pilot Phase 2 effort, which funded several companies to demonstrate prototypes of the EM&C architecture. Both of which Kratos was a participant.

Successful demonstrations were then carried out in December 2018 and January 2019, showing the ability to roam among heterogeneous networks, enabling secure SATCOM across multiple operator networks. These demonstrations used a U.S. government multi-band satellite communication terminal and gateway equipment representative of a current deployed infrastructure.

In March of 2021, a successful demonstration was hosted by U.S. European Command (EUCOM) and funded by the Advanced Battle Management System (ABMS) program. SATCOM situational awareness was demonstrated to an operationally secure environment utilizing commercial resources.

“Right now, terminals cannot automatically switch between different satellites, and warfighters are challenged to communicate to networks outside of their domain.” – Frank Backes

EM&C capabilities highlighted a means for providing real-time satellite communication end-to-end connectivity status and operational readiness. It also showed the ability to restore satellite service in response to interference and the capability to gather and fuse information into the UDL from sensors and satellites that included coalition partner sources. Kratos’ partner SES provided the SATCOM capacity for this demonstration.

GSR: SES is poised to launch their next-generation Medium-Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite solution in the coming months which is part of a larger industry trend of launching High Throughput Satellites (HTS) in orbits closer to Earth. What do these new satellite constellations offer that the existing Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites don’t? Why should the military be excited for this next generation of satellite constellation?

Frank Backes: WGS is a MILSATCOM Geostationary Orbit (GEO) constellation that provides wideband communication to the U.S. military and our allies. The satellites are far away from earth, extremely expensive, and take a long time to build. Also, there are not many satellites in the constellation, and some consider them easy targets to peer adversaries.

This does not mean that WGS no longer serves a purpose. WGS is still a central element of the DoD’s SATCOM infrastructure. However, the newer constellations can offer higher capacity, lower latency and more diverse communication paths that enhance resiliency.

Right now, if you look at the terminals supporting fixed U.S. Army or Air Force command posts, the DoD has to coordinate for the channel days or months in advance if using military channels or pay a lot for the throughput for a specific channel. With the commercial SATCOM in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) and MEO, you pay just for the service being used and it can be consumed almost immediately. EM&C offers a means to have situational awareness on this complex network and potentially enable active roaming.

“In a complicated network that includes many satellites in multiple domains, EM&C would control the operation for deployed warfighters. It would do the work and automatically choose the best satellite based on relevance, availability, and capability.” – Frank Backes

GSR: Are FTI and EM&C necessary for the government to utilize satellite constellations like the O3b mPOWER satellite service? How could EM&C and FTI make it easier and more seamless for the military to utilize satellite constellations like these?

Frank Backes: We believe the DoD would benefit from compatible terminals that the FTI would support. Terminals would be available in different sizes for different users but all equally capable of talking to LEO, MEO, and GEO satellites.

In a complicated network that includes many satellites in multiple domains, EM&C would control the operation for deployed warfighters. It would do the work and automatically choose the best satellite based on relevance, availability, and capability.

GSR: Beyond terminals, are today’s ground systems ready for such broad operational vision? What commercial approaches can augment and perhaps support future Joint All Domain Operations (JADO)?

Frank Backes: Ground systems are not completely ready and that is why we announced the OpenSpace Platform this year. The OpenSpace Platform is a commercial, virtualized software solution with advanced networking capabilities. Virtualized processes can remove dependence on proprietary and expensive hardware. Features available through the platform increase security, offer just-in-time deployments, reduce hardware footprints, and enable cloud-based solutions.

Commercial approaches such as the OpenSpace Platform can indirectly augment and support JADO. For example, Kratos’ Global Sensor Network provides Space Domain Awareness (SDA) which is essential to JADO. The network uses the OpenSpace Platform to configure RF hardware such as antennas, digitizers, and software to collect, process, and disseminate data.

Advanced SATCOM capabilities available from 03b mPOWER’s constellation can also augment and support JADO. In turn, mPOWER’s constellation could benefit from SDA capabilities provided by Kratos’ Global Sensor Network.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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A lot has happened since then.

First, there was the creation of an entirely new branch of the military dedicated to the space domain – the United States Space Force. That organization was tasked with recruiting and training a new generate of warfighter capable of defending the nation’s interests in space. It was also tasked with the acquisition of space systems and resources for the rest of the DoD – shifting the authority to assess and acquire commercial satellite and other services from DISA to the new Space Force.

Following the creation of the Space Force, its inaugural Chief of Space Operations, General John W. “Jay” Raymond, issued the, “United States Space Force Vision for Satellite Communications.” This white paper laid out a strategic vision and roadmap to a future SATCOM architecture that is, “…ubiquitous, resilient and dynamically responsive to the immediate needs of U.S. and allied forces.” In a press release accompanying the white paper, the Space Force claimed it would, “…continue engaging commercial partners to evaluate opportunities that may complement or possibly replace portions of a traditional military SATCOM purpose-built system.”

All of these advancements and revelations over the course of the past two years all point to one thing – the creation of an integrated SATCOM enterprise and architecture that utilizes MILSATCOM resources and commercial SATCOM services, together, to meet the military’s bandwidth and communications requirements. So, how close are we to that reality, and what’s standing in the way?

Breaking down the siloes
Unlike with MILSATCOM, the COMSATCOM services that would be integrated into this satellite architecture are offered from a number of disparate satellite operators. And those individual satellite providers represent a collection of siloes that aren’t always compatible. They each have their own constellations, satellites and technologies, and there is currently no way for the military to get a common operating picture. Worse, there’s currently no simple and easy way to roll from one satellite network to another on existing terrestrial hardware.

When we think about the reason driving the military to incorporate COMSATCOM into their integrated satellite architecture, it becomes increasingly apparent why this is a problem. The military needs the capability to rapidly restore the satellite communications that provide a tactical and operational edge if it is ever denied or disrupted. Should an adversary – knowing full well the capabilities that satellites deliver to our military – take steps to deny access to a MILSATCOM satellite, like a satellite in the WGS constellation, the DoD wants to be able to fill that void with a commercial satellite service. But there’s currently no simple way to do so.

If a WGS satellite were jammed right now, there is no immediate way to fill that communications gap with a commercial service without switching terrestrial hardware. With most commercial satellites operating on different frequencies than WGS, with the notable exception of GovSat-1, hardware compatibility between COMSATCOM and MILSATCOM often proves to be an obstacle in the way of interoperability. Beyond terminals and antennas lays the second obstacle of resource management. The lack of a common operating picture would make it difficult for the military to orchestrate services between available commercial and military satellites.

If an integrated satellite architecture that combines MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM is going to be a reality in the DoD, which is what the military has publicly advocated for, then these problems need to be addressed. And that’s why the FMI (flexible modem interface) and EM&C (enterprise management & control) concepts were created.

Small steps towards big change
What may seem like one big challenge – seamless movement or roaming from one satellite constellation to another – is actually multiple, smaller problems. As discussed, there is the situational awareness issue, as well as a terrestrial hardware and terminal issue which both need to be addressed. And, in typical DoD fashion, they need to be addressed methodically, deliberately and conservatively. After all, it’s the lives of warfighters that are in the line.

In an attempt to prove that these siloes can be broken and that the military can get the interoperability and common operating picture that they need to lean fully into an integrated satellite architecture, they’re working with industry partners to conduct pilot programs. These pilot programs seek to isolate the individual challenges and assess the potential collaborative approaches to overcoming them.

One of these concepts or pilot programs involves the FMI. This pilot program seeks to overcome the terrestrial hardware challenge that currently hinders seamless roaming from one satellite system to another. The pilot program seeks to demonstrate the ability to reprogram terminals and reposition antennas on command from the government network operations system to enable the seamless transition from connecting to one satellite system to another.

Three different companies were awarded contracts to demonstrate FMI capabilities. These companies – including Rt Logic, Hughes, and Knight Sky – partnered with satellite operators to build capabilities, hold workshops and conduct demonstrations of the technology in action. All three were successful in enabling roaming between networks. The demonstrations ultimately illustrated that a terminal or network can be reconfigured in response to interference, congestion, or changing mission needs in a matter of minutes as opposed to weeks or months, as is currently the case.

The other pilot program involved EM&C prototypes designed to deliver situational awareness and some command capability to the military. This concept creates standard interfaces between all components of the commercial systems, giving military users the ability to develop a common operating picture for an integrated satellite architecture, and perform some basic management and orchestration of satellites.

Companies participating in the EM&C pilot were tasked with enabling the following capabilities that would empower the military to roam between satellite networks:

• Planning Capability
• Brokering Capability
• Orchestration Capability
• Pool Management Capability
• Situational Awareness Management
• Security Management
• Integrated Data Management Environment

Together, these capabilities will enable the military to register terminals, broker bandwidth and capacity on commercial satellites, interface with commercial operators to configure service, track pool usage and manage both situational awareness and network security. This would effectively enable military operators to identify, acquire and configure the COMSATCOM services that meet their requirements should they have to roam from MILSATCOM resources to COMSATCOM services. This pilot is ongoing.

So, where are we today? We’re closer. Through the wideband AoA and the Space Force’s strategic vision, the military has confirmed that an integrated satellite architecture that utilizes both MILSATCOM resources and COMSATCOM services is the future. These pilots are important first steps in eliminating the large barriers to making that integrated architecture a reality. But we’re still a few years away.

To make this integrated architecture happen, there needs to be a sense of urgency, a focus and a drive within the military that we have yet to see, but is emerging. More funding is needed. More attention and support from senior-level military leaders is necessary. The timing for all of this to come together couldn’t be better. Once it does, the integrated satellite architecture and all the benefits it will deliver to the warfighter won’t be far behind.

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