SES-17’s coverage area makes it an important satellite for delivering mission-critical connectivity for the military. According to Amit Katti, Director of Systems Engineering at SES Space and Defense, “The satellite will…provide coverage…over the Americas, the Caribbean and the Atlantic Ocean…[as well as] an area that is of incredible importance to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), delivering services to parts of the Arctic Circle.”

But there is more to SES-17 than its important coverage area.

The SES-17 satellite is a significant development in satellite technology, featuring a fully digital payload powered by the most powerful digital transponder processor in orbit, and nearly 200 user beams capable of delivering incredible throughputs and bandwidth to users. But the launch of SES-17 also illustrates how the commercial satellite industry has evolved its solutions to meet the unique challenges facing our modern military.

More resiliency and assuredness through multi-orbit communications
Today’s military no longer has the massive technological advantage that it used to hold in space. Our near-peer adversaries have made significant headways into the space domain and turned what was once a benign domain into an austere, warfighting domain. Some of our adversaries have even actively demonstrated the ability to leverage kinetic attacks against satellites in orbit in an effort to deny or degrade the satellite networks that have long given America’s warfighters an edge on the battlefield.

“Having a diversity of satellites allows for optimizing the best solution set while making the network more robust.” – Rick Lober, Hughes Defense

“Our ability to integrate space assets and our force capabilities at speed is a distinct advantage we have today. China and Russia recognize this and have designed means to deny us these capabilities,” explained General Curtis Michael “Mike” Scaparrotti, a retired United States Army four-star general who last served as the Commander of United States European Command, in a recent interview with the Government Satellite Report. “…we know they have developed abilities to deny operations for periods of time by electronic jamming or cyber-attacks, and that they have tested both terrestrial and space systems to destroy satellites.”

In this new environment, it’s increasingly essential that the military has the means and ability to rapidly and seamlessly transition mission-critical data from a satellite that is being denied to another that is capable of delivering essential communications.

Being able to seamlessly roll communications from a satellite in one orbit to another satellite in a different orbit can help to further complicate an adversary’s targeting calculus and make it even harder to deny or degrade our military’s communications. This is also essential should missions requirements change, and should the military need either the higher throughputs and lower latency of satellites in medium Earth orbit (MEO), or the larger coverage area of satellites in GEO.

As Hughes Defense’s Rick Lober recently told the Government Satellite Report, “Having a diversity of satellites allows for optimizing the best solution set while making the network more robust.”

And this isn’t just an idea being pushed by the commercial satellite industry. It’s the current goal of the DoD. As U.S. Space Force Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, explained to attendees at a recent Mitchell Spacepower Forum, “We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design.”

But what does this need for a multi-orbit, resilient, and robust satellite network architecture have to do with SES-17?

“With a managed service model for satellite services, the government would always have the latest commercial technologies and solutions available to them. With systems like ARC in place, they’ll also have the added resiliency and capability of being able to leverage a multi-orbit constellation.” – Rashid Neighbors, SES Space and Defense

SES-17 is the first step in the integration of SES’s multi-orbit network. The spacecraft’s digital payload is supported by the Adaptive Resource Control (ARC) software, making it interoperable with SES’s second-generation O3b mPOWER satellite communications system in MEO, which is set to launch in the coming months.

The ARC software opens the door to more seamlessly transitioning satellite communications from the SES constellation of HTS satellites at GEO – including SES-17 – to the next-generation MEO satellite communications system, O3b mPOWER. This means that – should the bandwidth and latency requirements of the mission change, or in the unlikely event that a satellite service is denied by an adversary – SES could quickly and seamlessly switch between satellite services from GEO and MEO to meet the military’s requirement.

“Ultimately, our intent is to provide the U.S. Government with highly resilient, multi-orbit hybrid satellite solutions,” explained Rashid Neighbors, Vice President, Mobility and Integrated Solutions at SES Space and Defense. “While the spacecraft technology in SES-17 and the O3b mPOWER satellites is fundamentally different, the ground system will be integrated through…ARC. This allows our government customers to focus on their mission and applications and let SES Space and Defense worry about how the transport works.”

SES-17, and its support of the ARC system, make the dream of an integrated, multi-orbit satellite network architecture a reality. But it also enables another important shift – allowing the military to evolve away from the archaic and inefficient way that it has traditionally acquired satellite commercial satellite capacity.

A satellite “built for managed services”
In this new satellite reality, where multi-orbit commercial satellite services join military satellite communications (MILSATCOM) resources to build an integrated architecture, the traditional method of leasing satellite capacity on the spot market is no longer effective.

In this new reality – where military communications may need to be moved from a MILSATCOM satellite in GEO to commercial satellite service from MEO or LEO at a moment’s notice to meet mission requirements or provide mission assurance – the traditional methods of leasing satellite capacity are simply too slow.

The ARC system, and other technologies that make SES-17 more “software-enabled,” have ushered in a new generation of satellite that is, as Katti coined, “Built for managed services.” Meaning that the military and government can acquire satellite communications as a service from commercial providers, who, in turn, deliver an end-to-end solution when and where the military requires it.

“Our ability to integrate space assets and our force capabilities at speed is a distinct advantage we have today. China and Russia recognize this and have designed means to deny us these capabilities.” – General Scaparrotti, U.S. Army

Acquiring commercial satellite as a managed service ensures that the government and military are always leveraging the latest satellite technologies, and always have the requisite hardware and terrestrial infrastructure necessary to utilize it.

“With a managed service model for satellite services, the government would always have the latest commercial technologies and solutions available to them,” explained Neighbors. “With systems like ARC in place, they’ll also have the added resiliency and capability of being able to leverage a multi-orbit constellation.”

While the news of SES-17 becoming fully operational is certainly exciting, it’s not nearly as exciting as what SES-17 and other future satellites signify for our government and military. SES-17, the O3b mPOWER service, and other next-generation satellite solutions illustrate a clear solution to the challenge of a more austere space domain. They also signify a path forward towards a more integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture that will be more assured, robust, and resilient to meet the needs of our future force.

To learn more about SES-17, click HERE.

Featured image courtesy of Thales Alenia Space.

The post SES-17 Fully Operational – Offering Glimpse into the Future of Military Satellite Networks appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Last month at a special Schriever Spacepower Forum, Congressman Jim Cooper, U.S. Representative for Tennessee’s 5^th congressional district, sat down with Gen. Kevin P. Chilton (Ret.) to discuss the growing adversarial threat in space, how the U.S. needs to reestablish its deterrence capability in the domain, as well as the role commercial industry should play in the process.

U.S. Space Force as a deterrent force

To open the forum, Gen. Chilton asked Rep. Cooper about his thoughts on the Biden administration’s release of its U.S. space priorities framework and if he agreed with its positioning of the U.S. Space Force as a “support force” rather than a “deterrence and warfighting force.”

According to Rep. Cooper, he is on the side of deterrence. He stated that the U.S. should be able to have warfighting capabilities to defend its assets in space, while simultaneously projecting a strong deterrent presence that would prevent U.S. adversaries from making aggressive moves in the domain.

“Just few years ago, we’d let our deterrence capability in space go almost to zero,” said Rep. Cooper. “Which is pretty sad.” In his eyes, the space domain is the ultimate “infrastructure of infrastructure,” which the U.S. must be prepared to secure and defend.

He went on to explain that the country’s near-peer rivals have not delayed their technological innovations in the space arena. In areas where the U.S. military has been languishing, U.S. adversaries have made strides in their advancements. “We largely squandered that advantage,” said Rep. Cooper. “We’ve got a lot of catch-up work to do to reestablish deterrence.”

Reestablishing space dominance and deterrence

Rep. Cooper pointed to the ever-shrinking number of American STEM graduates as one of the main contributing factors to the country’s authoritative decline in space. “We gave up on much of big science,” he said. “Without a technological lead, our nation is doomed.”

He did acknowledge that there are signs that STEM is making a comeback in the workforce, and has hope that will give the nation a boost in reestablishing its technological lead. “We’re still head-and-shoulders above other militaries,” said Rep. Cooper. “But we’ve got to make sure that we’re always challenging ourselves to be the best. And sometimes I worry that we get distracted, or we rest on our laurels.”

As for the actual domain itself, one area that he believes could be a starting point to projecting a deterrent dominance in space is by rethinking the assets and satellites that the U.S. puts in in-orbit, explaining that they have to be more survivable and durable, and must have extremely robust capabilities.

“We got to do whatever it takes to have a severe capability,” said Rep. Cooper. “And that includes not only extraordinary defense, but also an offensive capability.”

Commercial sector can bridge the technological gap

Rep. Cooper noted that because threats in space are becoming more ubiquitous, the U.S. needs to prioritize the protection and security of its in-orbit critical systems. “We got to have a resilient, survivable architecture that can meet all our needs,” he explained.

He expressed concern around the speed of acquisition within the government and military, as well as emphasizing his concerns on the “quality” of acquisition. “We need to think about what really works, and what really can give us that 10-to-20-year leap…that our Pentagon needs to really meet and beat any other threat and establish deterrence.”

Rep. Cooper applauded the innovative technologies that are coming out of the commercial sector and expressed how he wishes that the U.S. government would match that level of innovation. “The first step is for the military to catch up with the private sector, because so much of the innovation has come from innovative small companies.”

“It’s incredible innovation that’s currently underway,” he said. “It’s innovation that we could currently be using with our Space Force and Air Force and other branches of the military.”

This sentiment of leveraging the commercial sector in order to advance the capabilities and solutions that are being employed by the U.S. military has lately been echoed by top military officials at the Pentagon.

Last January, the U.S. Space Force’s Chief of Space Operations, Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, spoke at a Mitchell Spacepower Forum where he emphasized the importance of establishing resiliency throughout critical systems in space and how the commercial sector has to play a role in making it happen.

“We have got to shift the space architecture from a handful of exquisite capabilities that are very hard to defend to a more robust, more resilient architecture by design,” said Gen. Raymond.

“But it’s not just about innovation. Integrating COMSATCOM services into an integrated MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM satellite architecture will have the added bonus of baking resiliency into the military’s networks.”

At another forum held last November, the U.S. Space Force’s Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman also agreed that the satellite architecture currently in space is unprepared for combat capability and capacity, and he pointed to the commercial industry as a major player in not only providing the technologies, but also creating a resilient space architecture for the U.S. military.

“With the technology that’s being employed, I think we’re going to be able to leverage commercial capabilities to accomplish a subset of our missions,” explained Lt. Gen Saltzman. “And as we distribute those up, not only does it free up resources for us, but it creates a more resilient architecture because of the number of different places and pathways where we can get the information we need.”

It’s clear that the U.S. military needs to begin to source these commercial technologies as soon as possible in order to regain dominance in the space domain, as well as play a deterrent role against aggressive near-peer competitors. As Rep. Cooper put it, “We need the capability now. We needed it yesterday. And I’m worried that we’re not there yet.”

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

The post Rep. Jim Cooper on reestablishing deterrence capabilities in the space domain appeared first on SES Space and Defense.