But there are multiple other reasons why government and military users, specifically, should be interested in SES-17. The satellite has been called, “built to deliver managed services,” at a time when the U.S. government and military are increasingly interested in moving towards purchasing satellite as a service. The system that controls and managed SES-17 is also the same that SES will leverage to manage its soon-to-be-launched O3b mPOWER MEO satellite service – opening the door for military and government users to access a multi-orbit satellite solution as a service.

To learn more about SES-17 and how it could benefit military and government organizations in need of commercial satellite communication (COMSATCOM) services, we sat down with Amit Katti and Carolyn Cuppernull of SES Space and Defense.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): In late June, SES announced that SES-17 was “fully operational.” What exactly does that mean? What transpires from satellite launch to a satellite being “fully operational?”

Carolyn Cuppernull: Fully operational suggests that the satellite has reached orbit as planned, after months of in-orbit raising and testing. This also means that the Very High Throughput Satellite (VHTS) is ready to offer managed broadband services across the Americas and the Atlantic.

SES-17 is the first satellite with a 100 percent digital payload, which means that it can be managed automatically using the SES Adaptive Resource Controller.” -Amit Katti

We can offer a flexible and cost-effective way to deliver high-quality broadband services. The SES-17 next-generation ground system is optimized for the delivery of high-throughput bandwidth that, when combined with SES-17’s advanced satellite capabilities and our service lifecycle expertise, enables the creation and delivery of tailored services.

GSR: SES-17 is considered a “high-throughput satellite (HTS).” What does that mean? How is an HTS different from a traditional satellite in GEO?

Amit Katti: Fundamentally, a high-throughput satellite (HTS) allows for frequency reuse across several spot beams, considering each of those beams can deliver hundreds of Mbps in throughput. SES-17 is a VHTS, which means that it has potential to deliver hundreds of Mbps across 200+ spot beams in a specific configuration.

In addition, SES-17 is the first satellite with a 100 percent digital payload, which means that it can be managed automatically using the SES Adaptive Resource Controller (ARC). ARC is a component that allows dynamic capacity allocation and resource management on the spacecraft.

The ARC system supports our strategy to provide a multi-orbit service using O3b mPOWER and SES-17, given that both these space assets are “managed” by ARC.

Our service offering consists of an integrated service portfolio that allows the military and government users alike to utilize the full benefits of platforms hosted on SES-17.” -Carolyn Cuppernull

SES-17 offers 200 configurable spot beams connected to 16 gateways that are capable of changing power and frequency based on the mission needs delivering increased throughout, better link optimization, and performance. SES-17 also offers HTS Ka-band GEO spot beams covering the Americas and includes unparalleled scalability, enabling the ability to increase capacity where and when it is needed without additional hardware costs.

Using global terrestrial MPLS network we can provide enterprise grade end-to-end connectivity solutions tailored to unique customer requirements.

GSR: SES-17 has been positioned as an example of two major trends or changes that we’re witnessing in how the government and military utilize commercial satellite – the movement towards shared services, and the integration of COMSATCOM services into the military’s satellite architecture. How does SES-17 align with managed services? What about this satellite makes it ideal for satellite managed services?

Carolyn Cuppernull: SES-17 was launched to primarily provide fully managed services. Our service offering consists of an integrated service portfolio that allows the military and government users alike to utilize the full benefits of platforms hosted on SES-17.

This means that SES Space and Defense will be able to provide fully operational COMSATCOM terminals on pre-defined – yet customizable – service plans that the government can fully utilize on Day 1. This also allows the end-users the flexibility to start the network small, as small as a single terminal, and ramp up the number of terminals added to a network within no time, because we have invested and stood up the hub-side architecture at multiple gateways.

In addition, the system architecture is designed that regardless of which gateway the traffic lands, it is terminated at SES Space and Defense’s Point of Presence (POP) in Ashburn and Los Angeles on the Global Terrestrial Network (GTN). From there, we are able to re-route the services to end-user locations or the internet as needed.

We add inherent security layers on top of the standard data path to make our managed services secure for the military to use.” -Amit Katti

With capacity on SES-17 offered as part of a managed service, U.S. government and military customers can use high-throughput satellite with submeter antennas. Programs like TROJAN – which utilizes small form-factor terminals – could benefit. There are also benefits for military Comms-on-the-Move (COTM) use cases.

GSR: What about the integrated commercial and military satellite and the network architecture? What about SES-17 makes it a satellite that could be easily and seamlessly utilized by the military?

Amit Katti: We add inherent security layers on top of the standard data path to make our managed services secure for the military to use. When the traffic terminates at one of SES Space and Defense’s GTN POPs, the traffic is routed on a secure network designed for the U.S. government community.

We also apply specific policies and controls defined by the U.S. government on the end-to-end network, therefore extending the security layer all the way to the end-user terminal.

Since the satellite can deliver more throughput using smaller terminals, it enables the military to spend less on HUB hardware for its Satellite Communications (SATCOM) solution. That’s critical because it enables more service availability to the warfighter.

GSR: Why does the military want these things? Why would they want to integrate COMSATCOM services into their military networks?

Carolyn Cuppernull: It comes down to efficiency and scalability. Because SES-17 offers fully managed services, the military can deploy a network for a single terminal, a cluster of terminals, or a combination of mobile and fixed terminals. The service offering and ease of deployment – is consistent across any form of deployment. This makes deployment super-fast and extremely scalable.

The COMSATCOM platforms utilized to provide these services offer high throughputs – up to 100s of Mbps per terminal. That makes for a very compelling use-case, especially for using this service for training purposes in the contiguous United States.

Cost is also an important factor. The government is always seeking a less expensive solution which supports their requirements for size, weight, power, and expense. SES-17 delivers that.

GSR: We know that SES is poised to launch the O3b mPOWER satellite service in the very near future. How will O3b mPOWER impact these two trends?

Amit Katti: SES-17 is equipped with ARC, an industry-first software system that dynamically and autonomously optimizes space and ground resources on demand.

ARC will also be integrated into O3b mPOWER, enabling managed connectivity integrated into our multi-orbit GEO-MEO fleet creating an interoperable network.

To learn more about SES-17, click HERE.

The post SES-17 is Fully Operational – What that Means for the Government and Military appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

In an effort to help Congress better understand the different use cases, services, and emerging solutions that NGSO satellites can provide to all military domains, as well as highlight the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) benefits that NGSOs can deliver to the U.S. government, SES Space and Defense recently conducted a series of congressional NGSO demonstrations on Capitol Hill.

To learn more about why now is the time for the U.S. government to take advantage of NGSO capabilities, and to get an update on what NGSO technologies and military use cases the company demonstrated to Congress, the Government Satellite Report was able to catch up with SES Space and Defense’s Vice President of Government Affairs, Marketing, Corporate Communications, Jon Bennett.

Here is what he had to say:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): A few weeks ago, SES Space and Defense held demonstrations of its NGSO satellite solutions for lawmakers in Congress. What was the company demonstrating? What capabilities were you looking to show these Congresspeople?

Jon Bennett: Whenever we are in front of Congress, especially when we work with the Armed Services Committee or other Committees of Jurisdiction, we want to highlight the game changing impact satellite solutions have on U.S. national security.

When we held that demonstration, our first and foremost priority was to showcase what we’re doing for each of the combatant commands and their respective areas of responsibility (AOR). For example, what has SES Space and Defense done from a SATCOM perspective to support Navy equities for the Indo-Pacific Command (INDOPACOM)? Well, that’s pretty easy.

We discussed our roll-on/roll-off Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) solution, what we call Navy MEO Wi-Fi. We showcased to our congressional stakeholders on the impacts SATCOM is having on the soldiers, sailors, and marines that have been in port, especially during the pandemic where COVID restrictions really limited our warfighters during port.

We showcased how we have been able to allow those folks – who have not been able to disembark their respective ships – to FaceTime with family, access online banking services, attend online schooling, etc. These are all things that we on the mainland take advantage of. So, we were able to demonstrate those connectivity strides and improved quality of life measures to Congress.

It all boils down to helping Congress understand why they should care about satellite communications, because communications is the critical backbone of any military operation.

GSR: Why was it important for legislators to see these capabilities?

Jon Bennett: Without communication capabilities being delivered warfighters would be going into theatre, blind. Tactical brigades would be severely hampered with operations potentially limited. The bottom line is that satellite communications offer real-time, highly accurate information to those that need to consume information and deliver actionable intelligence. We can’t deploy Stryker brigades without having the communication network, because those teams won’t be tethered to the decision makers, which leaves the warfighters uninformed. That can be disastrous, especially in the heat of battle.

If the U.S. doesn’t leverage SATCOM, we are certainly putting ourselves at an extreme disadvantage to our adversaries.” -Jon Bennett

We simply needed to express to our Hill stakeholders the need to provide resilient and diverse satellite communications is critical to meeting Department of Defense SATCOM requirements. At the end of the day, our demonstrations were dedicated to emphasizing how comms is the backbone to military operations. That’s what we wanted Congress to walk away with when we were finished.

GSR: Congress recently included some language about NGSO satellite in this year’s NDAA. Why is Congress so interested in NGSO satellite right now? Why would lawmakers be interested in the type of satellite solutions that the military is utilizing?

Jon Bennett: We always emphasize how space is an essential variable to the national security equation. I just mentioned how communications is the backbone to military operations, right? If the U.S. doesn’t leverage SATCOM, we are certainly putting ourselves at an extreme disadvantage to our adversaries.

When discussing why Congress is interested in NGSO, it goes back to General Raymond’s Fighting SATCOM initiative, which requires multi-band satellite communications – Ka, Ku, C-band etc. It also requires multi-orbit comms, such as geosynchronous (GEO), medium Earth orbit (MEO), and then low Earth orbit (LEO). What Fighting SATCOM does is that it allows the military to seamlessly transition from one orbital asset – the LEO, MEO, or GEO satellites – and at different frequencies to another.

That capability effectively complicates the enemy’s targeting calculus. For example, if adversaries like China, Russia, or North Korea degrades one of our assets from a MILSAT perspective, the military can then transition seamlessly to commercial capabilities at those various orbits and those various frequencies. That is why Congress cares about NGSO. Because for many, many years, GEO satellites are just sitting there. They’re big, fat, juicy targets, right? So, it is a lot easier to degrade those assets.

Whereas with your MEO assets – like O3b MEO and our soon-to-be-launched O3b mPOWER constellation – those satellites move equatorially. They’re constantly moving, which is a critical attribute to have for resilient SATCOM. Creating a highly secure and resilient asset that belongs in the space SATCOM ecosystem is just one aspect of why Congress has been showing interest in NGSO capabilities.

For us, the medium Earth orbit is our absolute sweet spot, because it’s uncontested and uncongested.” -Jon Bennett

From a security perspective, it allows the ability to mitigate threats through that resiliency, security, and redundancy. It all ties back to Fighting SATCOM and the ability to protect space assets, improve space situational awareness, and create missile warning and tracking capabilities, to name a few. If you have satellites in all three orbits able to track them in a scenario where an inbound missile is coming at high velocity and speed, we absolutely need that low latency at all layers to be able to track said missile threat. Congress is keenly interested in that, especially in the early rapid advancements you’re seeing with our adversarial nations. This is another reason lawmakers are interested in deploying the appropriate mix of military and commercial satellite solutions within the DoD Enterprise Architecture.

GSR: From a mission assurance and security standpoint, how does the military benefit from leveraging commercial NGSO satellite services?

Jon Bennett: First, let me explain what NGSO means. NGSO or Non-geostationary satellites occupy a range of orbital positions (LEO satellites are located between 700km-1,500km from the Earth, MEO satellites are located at 10,000km from the Earth), and do not maintain a stationary position, but instead move in relation to the Earth’s surface. For us, the medium Earth orbit is our absolute sweet spot, because it’s uncontested and uncongested. There isn’t any other commercial entity out there that has MEO assets, like we have in O3b and the soon-to-be O3b mPOWER. We have been operating and servicing the U.S. government in MEO since 2016.

The ability to operate in MEO is a lot cleaner, whereas with LEO there is a concern that it is going to be extremely congested. There are thousands of satellites moving at rapid speeds. And in order to get into space, you have to go into and through LEO, which raises a great amount of concern. I’m not saying there aren’t benefits from LEO, the Fighting SATCOM vision calls for assets in all three orbits. But there is a slight concern when it comes to space debris and having to go through LEO to get into MEO and GEO.

Another benefit of leveraging commercial, especially with NGSO, is the security, resiliency, and redundancy it provides. When you’re able to complicate an enemy’s targeting calculus, that ensures that the built-in security features of your assets can mitigate threats at the highest level.

To us, the greatest capability that we offer to the warfighter in all domains, whether it be in air, land, sea, or cyber, is what we call fiber-like latency.” -Jon Bennett

So how did we do that? When Boeing was designing and building our O3b mPOWER MEO capabilities, we leveraged reports, at the classified level, to help us understand and hone in on the security vulnerabilities that our satellites and space assets are currently facing. When we were building our next-gen capability in O3b mPOWER, we developed features that were built into the design phase, thus making O3b mPOWER inherently resilient and secure.

GSR: What new services, tools, and capabilities could these satellite solutions enable for the warfighter across the different warfighting domains?

Jon Bennett: Inherent security and flexibility are going to be key aspects. Those aspects are the heart of the new service tools and capabilities that O3b mPOWER is going to bring to the fight.

Simply put, O3b mPOWER has inherent security and flexibility through NSA CNSSP-12, and allows for command uplink decryption and telemetry downlink encryption while designed to meet ODNI stringent cybersecurity requirements

To us, the greatest capability that we offer to the warfighter in all domains, whether it be in air, land, sea, or cyber, is what we call fiber-like latency. We enable less than 150 millisecond round trip latency. It’s essentially fiber in the sky, and that’s what our MEO satellites offer.

There is a need for GEO, MEO, and LEO, because you need to have all three orbits to truly complicate an enemy’s attack and targeting calculus.” -Jon Bennett

Another emerging capability that we are offering is secure beam steering. We have 5,000 steerable beams at our disposal on these assets. That aspect is a definite gamechanger. Having thousands of customer beams per satellite has been previously unheard of. And if the DoD were to need it, we can also lump the beams together to get more throughput for the military.

GSR: When we say NGSO we’re effectively talking about LEO and MEO. Are there any particular advantages to these different orbits for the military? Why would the military want to choose services in one orbit over the other?

Jon Bennett: It all goes back to Fighting SATCOM. There is a need for GEO, MEO, and LEO, because you need to have all three orbits to truly complicate an enemy’s attack and targeting calculus.

Where you don’t have to rely on MILSAT at WGS, you can rely on COMSAT and seamlessly transition from one orbit to the another. And the standout advantages are the high throughput and low latency it provides. The closer you are to the to the Earth’s surface, the lower the latency will be. But the issue there is the lack of security on LEO assets. Look at what happened to the assets that were leveraged in Ukraine and how quickly Russia was able to degrade them.

With our MEO capabilities, the level of ability for the enemy to degrade is certainly not going to be the same. And there isn’t going to be a whole lot of packet loss. What that does is enable the U.S. government and its military to knowingly leverage a secure asset that has virtually the same level of latency as LEO. That to us is extremely important.

The ability for a Pentagon decision maker to act on intelligence in near real time from a tactical brigade unit, in theater and in the fight via ISR efforts is very impactful. For example, during the early days of Afghanistan, if you came across a treasure trove hardware with critical information on them, you used to have to rip out the hard drives, fly them back via a CH-47 Chinook, attempt to exfiltrate the information, and then days later you’ll be able to have some actionable intelligence.

We’re providing the ability to act on intelligence in near real time based on the fact that we offer low latency and high-throughput within those two orbital slots. That is why the military views LEO and MEO as particular advantages over GEO.

To learn more about NGSO and what to look for when selecting a satellite solution, click HERE.

The post SES Space and Defense demonstrates emerging NGSO satellite solutions to Congress appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

In an effort to evaluate and begin tapping into the accelerated innovation coming out of the COMSATCOM industry, NASA has created the Communications Services Project (CSP), an agency initiative that seeks to harness commercial industry’s advances in order to, “…ensure NASA missions have the reliable, secure and continual space communications on which their long-term operations depend.”

NASA recently announced that SES Space and Defense, in partnership with Planet Labs (Planet), will be awarded a Funded Space Act Agreement to support the development and demonstration of near-Earth space relay communication services in support of the agency’s future mission needs.

To learn more about the CSP, why SES Space and Defense was chosen to support the project, as well as how the company’s O3b mPOWER satellite constellation will deliver near-Earth comms capabilities to NASA, the Government Satellite Report recently sat down with Eric Gunzelman, a Senior Director at SES Space and Defense.

Here is what he had to say:

Government Satellite Report (GSR): What is the NASA Communications Services Project? What are they looking to deliver communications and connectivity for?

Eric Gunzelman: NASA’s Communication Services Project (CSP) is primarily focused on pioneering the future of NASA’s near-Earth space communications and evaluating the feasibility of leveraging commercial SATCOM networks to reliably support future NASA missions, particularly through space relay, also known as satellite-to-satellite communications.

NASA has recognized the growth in commercial satellite technology and the maturation of that technology to now handle communications relay through space, as a more efficient, cost-effective alternative to the purpose-built TDRSS that NASA has operated for decades.

TDRSS is a highly capable satellite that sits in Geostationary Orbit (GEO) and provides relay services to NASA science missions at Low Earth Orbit (LEO), with the highest-profile one being the relay mission from the International Space Station (ISS).

Sometimes these LEO satellites are not always in view of the ground station, but NASA investigators still need immediate access to the scientific data collected. TDRSS functions to relay that scientific data to the ground immediately even when the LEO satellite is not in view of an earth station.

For example, Johnson Space Center can communicate to astronauts who may be on the other side of the Earth, via the 24/7 direct communication TDRSS enables.

GSR: Why is NASA looking to replace TDRSS? Why is commercial satellite a viable or preferred candidate to replace TDRSS?

Eric Gunzelman: The main reason is the expense. It costs a lot of money to build your own purpose-built constellation of satellites to cover the globe. NASA believes that the commercial technology marketplace has matured enough to enable reliable space relay capabilities. As a case in point, the commercial imagery industry has matured to the point of providing high-resolution photographs that we have all seen on the national news throughout the Ukraine conflict.

NASA is providing the funding to not only help demonstrate these emerging COMSATCOM relay services, but also the “seed” money to develop the market such that NASA is one of many customers. If they can get CSP off the ground in a cost-share agreement to help create the market – but not be the sole proprietor of the service – then that will be a big win that will save the agency money over continuing to develop and launch a purpose-built TDRSS satellite system.

“O3b and SES have been operating in a mature MEO system since 2014, providing services to the U.S. government since 2016. They have delivered more than 10 gigabytes per second on 41 contracts. That experience and legacy will ensure that NASA is receiving a low-risk, high-payoff capability for space relay.” – Eric Gunzelman

GSR: Will SES Space and Defense be delivering capacity on GEO satellites only, or will it also be leveraging its Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite constellation to deliver service to the CSP?

Eric Gunzelman: We will begin primarily with the hybrid, GEO/MEO concept. The long-term plan is to offer most of our services through MEO, due to its lower latency and higher throughput. However, we can provide services through GEO as well.

GSR: Why is the CSP so important for NASA? How has the agency’s connectivity and communications requirements changed and shifted to make connectivity in LEO so essential?

Eric Gunzelman: Most of NASA’s Earth-observing missions are in LEO because of its closer proximity to the Earth. And a lot of those scientific missions are best served if we can get the data back to the NASA Principal Investigator as soon as the event happens. This helps NASA understand the science as it happens on our planet, and enables NASA to identify any correlation with other events around the globe.

Currently, NASA science missions that operate in polar orbits sometimes need to wait up to 30 minutes to downlink their data to an earth station if they don’t have enough priority to use TDRSS.

GSR: How will delivering MEO capacity via O3b mPOWER better enable NASA missions in LEO? What will this make possible for them? What capabilities will it enable?

Eric Gunzelman: NASA has a handful of mission sets that can be serviced by relay, including launch and early orbit, as well as your standard LEO science missions. With our 50+ GEO satellites and new O3b mPOWER MEO constellation, we can service them without the need of being in view of a NASA ground station. This reduces the long-term costs for NASA, saving budgets on TDRSS procurement and ongoing operations and maintenance, and on the ground infrastructure required to support TDRSS.

“If [NASA] can get CSP off the ground in a cost-share agreement to help create the market – but not be the sole proprietor of the service – then that will be a big win that will save the agency money over continuing to develop and launch a purpose-built TDRSS satellite system.” – Eric Gunzelman

As noted earlier, NASA missions don’t always have access to TDRSS because of other mission priorities (such as manned flights/the ISS). There’s a priority structure. In addition, a market implies many vendors to choose from. So, in theory, NASA could have access to multiple providers so buying a service when they need it and only when they need it should save billions of dollars, averting the cost to build and maintain TDRSS.

In fact, NASA has been working on this effort for nearly a decade now. The Phase One studies showed that COMSATCOM technologies had advanced and matured to consider the market space. In fact, NASA has committed to Congress, as a result of their Phase One studies that they can get off of TDRSS by the early to mid-2030s, with some new missions capable of transitioning much sooner. The final TDRSS will fly out, and they will make use of their services as they can. But the current plan is to transition to commercial for new NASA missions beginning in 2026.

GSR: Why were SES Space and Defense and Planet chosen for this program? What role will SES Space and Defense play? What role will Planet play?

Eric Gunzelman: We were one of six vendors chosen by NASA — we offer the only mature non-GEO satellite system today, that being O3b constellation operating at MEO (8,062 km). This gives us a unique vantage point because we see more of the Earth at any one time than our LEO counterparts but we don’t suffer the high latencies of GEO satellites.

“Most of NASA’s Earth observing missions are in LEO…a lot of those scientific missions are best served if we can get the data back to the NASA Principal Investigator as soon as the event happens.” – Eric Gunzelman

Planet is chosen because they know how to build and launch LEO demonstration satellites with an Earth observation payload — they know how to build small efficient satellites with an earth-based mission (imaging in this case). Planet has launched nearly 200 satellites.

GSR: What is the timeline for the CSP? Is it up and working today? If not, when will it be operational?

Eric Gunzelman: It is a four-year demonstration program that will conclude with an operational service in the late-2025/early-2026 timeframe. Ideally, NASA wants to immediately transition from this demonstration program into operational service.

O3b and SES have been operating in a mature MEO system since 2014, providing services to the U.S. government since 2016. They have delivered more than 10 gigabytes per second on 41 contracts. That experience and legacy will ensure that NASA is receiving a low-risk, high-payoff capability for space relay. We are just moving the terminal from the ground to space, and bringing the connectivity along with it.

To learn more about the agreement between NASA, SES Space and Defense, and Planet click HERE.

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