One topic of discussion that received a considerable amount of buzz throughout the conference was the federal government and military’s need for connectivity at the North and South Poles.

At first glance, it may seem that having SATCOM capabilities at the Poles is unnecessary. But my conversations with government and military leaders at Space Symposium showed that there is – indeed – an undeniable need for COMSATCOM solutions and capabilities at the Poles.

Research and national defense
Even though there are very few people who live and work at the North and South Poles, the mission sets that present U.S. government and military personnel are carrying out in these areas are absolutely critical to not only national security, but to scientific research and development as well.

If we were to take a trip down to the remote South Pole, we would find scientists and researchers from the National Science Foundation (NSF), the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) making groundbreaking discoveries in the areas of astronomy, astrophysics, seismology, climate change, among many others.

Without reliable connectivity and communications capabilities, government researchers are unable to uplink the critical data back to those that will analyze and learn from it in the continental U.S. As a result, major scientific progress could be halted and left unsupported during a time when rising sea levels and record-breaking natural disasters are threatening American lives every day. It is critical that the federal government be able to provide scientists with the SATCOM capabilities they require to continue producing world-saving research.

And much like in the South Pole, the remote North Pole also supports scientific, government research that requires SATCOM solutions that can power the massive data exchanges coming to and from the area. But, unlike the South Pole, there are additional military requirements for SATCOM services at the North Pole.

Two of our largest, near-peer adversaries are located in the INDOPACOM area of responsibility (AOR). As global climate change continues to open passages on additional travel routes through the North Pole region, the need to protect newly-formed commercial trade routes from those adversaries increases. There is also an increased need to defend the U.S. and its northern allies from threats that leverage these new northern passages.

The threats U.S. adversaries pose to national security is always evolving. To secure U.S. borders from potential, incoming threats the government and military must leverage digital transformation at the North Pole, through the proliferation of military, marine, and aerospace sensors that can detect security threats that may pose risks to the homeland.

With traditional, terrestrial networks unavailable, SATCOM is necessary to get sensor data from these remote locations back to military and civilian support organizations and their decision-makers. By leveraging SATCOM to connect a new generation of advanced Internet of Things (IoT) sensors and devices, our military and civilian organizations can gain better situational awareness at the Poles, understand changing weather patterns, and be better prepared to defend our nation from pacing threats.

But what commercial satellite capabilities are available in the Poles?

Why the Poles are HOT for satellite providers
There are many rural, remote, and geographically isolated places in our country that are without access to terrestrial networks because there simply isn’t a business case for telecoms or other internet service providers (ISP) to invest in the infrastructure. And it’s easy to understand why. Since the number of residents that would pay for the service is limited, these companies simply wouldn’t make their investment back, let alone make a meaningful return on that investment.

Something similar has long hampered the launch of satellite constellations that provide service to the North and South Poles. In places where penguins and polar bears outnumber people, there is very little need for satellite services, and very little revenue to be generated from launching multiple satellites to deliver coverage to these areas.

But that is beginning to change rapidly. Increased demand from government and military users in these remote areas is driving a growing need for satellite services. In partnerships with global governments, there could now be a reasonable business case for commercial satellite service providers to expand coverage to the poles. And this is one of the reasons why so many conversations at Space Symposium focused on this topic – renewed and increased interest in the Poles from both the government and its industry partners.

For example, as a satellite operator with the only HTS satellite constellation in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), SES Space and Defense, strategically designed second generation MEO constellation, O3b mPOWER with capabilities to operate in inclined planes and in the future extend MEO to the poles. As scientific expeditions and military operations continue to expand at the Poles, the future capabilities that MEO will provide will be paramount to mission success.

This was a sentiment shared by Steve Collar, the CEO of SES, during his recent keynote address at the SATELLITE 2023 Conference. “From an SES standpoint, we designed O3b mPOWER to be capable to also operate in inclined planes. That would be the next step for us…That means polar capability and polar coverage that allows us to add more capabilities,” Collar said. “We won’t be limited in the future to just communications. We can add more services and more missions to this incredibly strategic orbit.”

Learn how SES Space and Defense is providing satellite services to Pituffik Space Base in Greenland, HERE.

Listen to SES Space and Defense’s Vice President of Government Relations, Jon Bennett, discuss why commercial connectivity is critical for communications at the Arctic Circle, HERE.

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As if a hurricane season so active that – in about a month and a half – we’ve exhausted the list of 21 names the NHC put aside for the entire year wasn’t enough, this has also been an incredibly active year for an increasingly prevalent natural disaster – wildfires.

The year started with 46 million acres burning in Sydney, Australia. Those deadly bushfires destroyed more than 5,900 buildings and killed at least 34 people. It was a horrific tragedy that caused incredible damage to not just Australia’s people, but to many incredibly important natural habitats.  Those brushfires reportedly killed or displaced upwards of three billion animals, leading the World Wide Fund for Nature to call it, “…one of the worst wildlife disasters in modern history.”

Now, we’re seeing a similar situation play out in America’s west coast. There are currently 59 uncontained fires burning across the states of California, Oregon, and Washington. According to the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) in reporting by CNN, these fires have, “…burned more than 5.8 million acres,” and have killed, “….at least 34 people.”

As with all hurricanes and wildfires in the past, eventually, the storm passes and the fire is contained. In those moments, the best of humanity is on display as people band together to help rebuild and recover from these costly and terrible disasters.

Unfortunately, they’re often forced to do so without a vital resource – communications.

Destroying infrastructure as well as buildings
When people see aftermath photos of a natural disaster they’re often thinking about the damage to things like homes, office buildings, and small businesses. And while they may also see a washed-out road or a fallen bridge, transportation infrastructure isn’t the only one that is damaged and destroyed.

Natural disasters like hurricanes and wildfires also often compromise important electrical infrastructure and critical communications infrastructure. As Cale Teeter Gregg recently wrote on The Last Mile:

Many people don’t realize that the critical communications infrastructure that transmits the signals that keep their cell phones and other devices connected are often destroyed in natural disaster situations. The electronics at the base of these towers are often compromised in flooding. Wildfires will burn through the cables that connect them to terrestrial networks. Hurricanes will blow down cabling and damage electronics making them inoperable. Even lightning strikes can impact a cell tower and knock out service.

When these systems are knocked out and denied, the emergency response crews and impacted civilians in the affected area are left without the ability to communicate. This can make calling for help or assistance difficult to impossible. This can make coordination of relief and recovery efforts difficult. This can also have a major emotional toll as families are left unable to tell loved ones they’re okay, or to check in to ensure that they’re safe and secure.

And this is where satellites can help.

Quickly deployed, high bandwidth connectivity
In the wake of large natural disasters, such as highly damaging hurricanes and wildfires, it can take months to restore basic services. For example, following Hurricane Maria, it was estimated to take up to nine months to get power restored to 100 percent of the people serviced by the public utility company, PREPA.

During this time – while critical infrastructure is being repaired – there are still recovery teams and civilians that require access to stable communication networks. And satellite can help to deliver them.

Portable satellite terminals that deploy quickly can be brought into affected areas to help take the place of – or complement – damaged terrestrial networks. Since the connectivity comes from space and the hardware is mobile and deployed following the crisis or natural disaster, satellite is always available – regardless of what damage was done to terrestrial networks and infrastructure.

And, thanks in large part to the new generation of high throughput satellites (HTS) and the emergence of HTS satellites at Medium Earth Orbit (MEO), the connectivity that is delivered via satellite is both high bandwidth and dependable.

HTS delivers drastically increased throughputs, better link optimization, and performance. HTS also combines frequency reuse with blanket juxtaposition of high-power spot beams over a geographic area. This allows the user to transmit and receive more data than a standard wide beam. HTS satellites at MEO combine this increased throughput and dependability with lower latency – effectively delivering a fiber-like connection from space.

The recovery teams and civilians in areas impacted by natural disasters need critical connectivity tools for collaboration, coordination, and communication among themselves and their loved ones. While the terrestrial infrastructure that traditionally delivers this connectivity may be disrupted, satellites can fill that requirement without any loss of quality or capability.

Natural disasters are terrible tragedies, but they also bring out the best in people. Those that rush in to help following disasters should be given the tools they need to do their jobs effectively and ensure their own safety. Today’s next generation of HTS satellites can give them the tools they need to help communities recover while keeping themselves safe and connected.

The post The role HTS satellites can play in wildfire and hurricane recovery appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

The future space environment will need to be more resilient and capable of responding to an evolving set of threats, challenges and U.S. Government requirements. Industry experts, political and military leaders as well as pundits have been saying this for years – and with good reason. The ability to sustain operations, especially in the face of capable adversaries, is critically important to our national security.  The commercial satellite communications industry has been, and will be, an important partner in that effort.

As we review our third year of The Government Satellite Report, these themes resonate through some of our top stories.

Bold steps
2017 ushered in another wave of innovative and paradigm-challenging efforts.  With commercial capabilities quickly outpacing dated programs of record, the government began to take steps towards laying plans for a more secure and resilient satellite communications infrastructure.  U.S. Strategic Command’s General Hyten and U.S. Air Force Space Command’s General Raymond established and evolved a Space Enterprise Vision that includes COMSATCOM as a key component of U.S. national security in space.

A key component of this vision is the  Wideband Analysis of Alternatives (AoA) to satisfy the military’s future wideband communications requirements. The AoA is leveraging the intent of the Space Enterprise Vision to determine how to develop an integrated satellite architecture that combines both military satellites and COMSATCOM services. This architecture will undoubtedly deliver advanced applications by making next-generation Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) and Geostationary Orbit (GEO) High Throughput Satellite (HTS) commercial technologies readily available for government and military operations.

Along with the AoA effort, leaders in Congress and the Pentagon debated the potential benefits of a separate branch of the military dedicated to space. Congress concluded 2017 by providing sweeping new guidance and authorities to the Department of Defense regarding the oversight of the wider space enterprise and more specifically, the procurement of commercial satellite communications.  Implementing those authorities will be another exciting activity  we’ll track closely in 2018.

2017 ushered in another evolution in how and what type of commercial satellite services the U.S. Government will pursue. 2017 also saw the rise of other government trends that I believe will continue and grow in 2018, and beyond.

High Throughput and Low Latency Applications
MEO and GEO HTS satellites played an increasingly essential role for the U.S. Government in 2017. SES Space and Defense delivered nearly 5 Gigabits per second of managed MEO services supporting over 13 sites globally to government customers ranging from the Department of Defense (DoD) to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). We see an ever-increasing demand from the U.S. Government for expanded high throughput, low latency capabilities and the mission applications enabled by those services.

Continued Use of Hosted Payloads
Last year we also saw the continued, successful use of hosted payloads by the federal government. In 2017, SES satellites were chosen to host a Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) payload for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Global-Scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) payload for NASA. The continued success of these hosted payload programs has provided validation for hosted payloads as an economical and efficient alternative to launching an entire dedicated satellite for the same mission. I believe that we will see more innovation in how the U.S. Government pursues hosted payload opportunities on commercial satellites in 2018 and beyond.

CS3 and Beyond
As of October 2017, the COMSATCOM industry will be able to expand its services through the General Services Administration (GSA) Complex Commercial SATCOM Solutions (CS3) contract award.  Awardees, including SES Space and Defense will be able to provide capabilities through this indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract vehicle with a $2.5 Billion ceiling. CS3 will allow federal agencies to bid large, complex, custom satellite solutions for the next ten years exclusively among its 22 industry teams. We expect a lot more COMSATCOM opportunities to be released under CS3 than its predecessor, CS2 – including services that will provide high throughput and low latency to the government end-user.

2017 was an exciting year in SATCOM and it set the stage for a significant evolution in how the federal government and the United States military address their satellite communications requirements. The COMSATCOM industry,and SES Space and Defense in particular ,is excited by what lies ahead in space.  We are prepared and committed to helping the government overcome the challenges it faces, to include providing a more resilient, disaggregated and distributed satellite communications architecture.

The Government Satellite Report remains committed to bringing you the latest satellite trends, breaking news and insightful interviews with government and satellite industry leaders in 2018.  But first, here is a look at some of the articles that our readers found most compelling in 2017. Thank you for being a loyal reader.

To learn more about the satellite trends and issues that dominated headlines in 2017, download the Government Satellite Year in Review by clicking HERE.

The post Setting the stage for a revolution in SATCOM – 2017 in review appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

That agency is a component of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) called the National Weather Service (NWS), and its ability to effectively accomplish its mission really can be the difference between life and death for American citizens.

In June of this year, the National Weather Service Office (NWSO) at Pago Pago, American Samoa signed a contract with SES Space and Defense for a new tool to help them accomplish their very important mission – a highly reliable, low latency link for passing critically important weather information between the NSWO in Pago Pago and the NWS headquarters Office on Ford Island in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This contract with SES Space and Defense was notable for two reasons.

First, the satellite constellation that the NWSO in Pago Pago would be utilizing would not be the company’s GEO constellation. Instead, the satellite constellation carrying information between American Samoa and Hawaii would be the newer O3b MEO constellation of satellites, which promise fiber-like throughputs and lower latency.

Second, the contract signed between the NWSO in Pago Pago and SES Space and Defense was not just for the lease of some satellite capacity, but rather for a complete satellite managed service. This decision to move forward with satellite as a managed service is a revolutionary, innovative step forward for the federal government, since managed services are widely considered the more economical and efficient acquisition model that is the future of the satellite industry.

To learn more about this revolutionary new satellite service being implemented by the NWS, we spoke to Ray Tanabe, the Pacific Region Director at NWS, and Per Pedersen, the Systems Integration Branch Chief at NWS. During our discussion, we asked about the NWSO at Pago Pago’s mission, why it’s so fundamentally important, and the role that the O3b managed satellite services will play in the office accomplishing that mission.

Here is what they had to say:

GovSat Report: What is the mission of NOAA’s National Weather Service Office (NWSO) at Pago Pago, American Samoa? Is there something about this weather station that makes it particularly essential for weather forecasting and prediction?

Ray Tanabe: The mission of Weather Service Office (WSO) Pago Pago is exactly the same as every other NWS office in the United States, to, “Provide weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy.”

WSO Pago Pago has the distinction of being the only NWS office in the southern hemisphere and serves a population of approximately 55,000 people spread out over five rugged, volcanic islands and two coral atolls.  One these seven islands, Rose Atoll, is a Marine National Monument.

Primary threats to American Samoa include hazardous sea conditions around the islands, tropical cyclones, heavy rainfall, and tsunamis.  The relative isolation of these islands, complex geography, lack of a weather radar, makes the forecasts and warnings issued by WSO Pago Pago very important.

GovSat Report: Why is COMSATCOM essential for connecting this station? Is Pago Pago’s geography and location particularly challenging for the installation of terrestrial networks? What makes satellite – and specifically COMSATCOM – so important for connectivity here?

Per Pedersen: Present day weather forecasting and prediction is very much data driven. Predictive computer models, satellite and radar data from multiple sources and observational data form the basis for the production of forecasts and warnings. It is essential that WSO Pago Pago have reliable network capability to access this data.

The remote location in American Samoa is a challenge as there are limited terrestrial network options.

In the process of upgrading the network communications for WSO Pago Pago, several highly-reliable, high-bandwidth solutions were considered, and the MEO satellite based solution from O3b/SES Space and Defense was found to be the best and most cost-effective for our requirements.

GovSat Report: O3b operates a MEO constellation that has been touted as capable of delivering fiber-like connectivity via satellite. Why was a high-bandwidth, low-latency MEO constellation necessary for this weather station? What kind of data will be transmitted? Why was a traditional GEO constellation not chosen for its data needs?

Per Pedersen: The low-latency MEO solution from O3b/SES Space and Defense provides the scalability and flexibility we need. The large data sets we use require high-capacity data transmission capability and the low latency provides the technological versatility that will allow us to tailor this solution to anticipated future needs, comparable to what we would be able to do using a fiber-based solution.

GovSat Report: Although many have tabbed managed services as the future of COMSATCOM, we haven’t seen many government agencies move in that direction yet. Why did NWS decide to pursue a managed service with SES Space and Defense and O3b? What benefits will a managed service solution deliver over the traditional leasing of capacity?

Per Pedersen: Our forecasting and warning operations run 24x7x365 and we support our operations accordingly. The availability and expertise provided under this contract allow us to cost-efficiently support our operations without having to acquire dedicated, in-house expertise required for this specialized technology.

GovSat Report: How far along is the implementation of this managed service at Pago Pago? Is it active now? Is it coming online soon? If it’s already online, what have initial responses been to the service?

Per Pedersen: The antennas and protective radomes were installed in late May of this year,  and after initial testing and reliability verification the system was declared operational. The service has been operating fully successfully since then.

For additional information about the O3b MEO satellite constellation and the benefits it can deliver to the federal government, click on the following resources:

• White Paper On O3b “Fiber Like” Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications
• VIDEO: Pete Hoene on MEO satellites and their potential benefits for the government
• PODCAST – O3b CEO Discusses Delivering Fiber-like Bandwidth Anywhere
• Dome Placement at Pago Pago, Samoa for NWS (Time lapse)

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The hearing focused on the how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – collects and utilizes weather data. In her testimony, Ms. Robinson detailed some of the reasons why NOAA should include hosted payloads as one of the “new and responsive acquisition practices” they could utilize to further weather sensing capabilities.

We recently had the opportunity to sit down with Ms. Robinson to learn more about what hosted payloads are, what benefits they could deliver to NOAA and other federal agencies, and why hosted payloads are a feasible alternative to the traditional method of putting satellite payloads into orbit.

Here is what Ms. Robinson had to say:

For additional information on hosted payloads, their benefits to the federal government and how they can provide economical access to space for government agencies and branches of the military, download the SES hosted payload white paper by clicking HERE.

The post PODCAST: Nicole Robinson on the benefits of hosted payloads for NOAA and other federal agencies appeared first on SES Space and Defense.