In particular, there has been tremendous headway recently in terms of the contracting approach with the new Pathfinder initiatives. For example, the commercial SATCOM (COMSATCOM) Pathfinder One effort was an attempt to break the paradigm of purchasing on-orbit COMSATCOM transponders versus leasing bandwidth on the spot market. While COMSATCOM was (and is) normally leased using Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) or Operations and Maintenance funding, Pathfinder One was executed using procurement dollars.  For the first time, the government purchased COMSATCOM as a vital infrastructure instead of a service.

The innovation and mission-enabling utility of Pathfinder has been sustained in the Air Force’s FY2017 budget request for five full iterations that will expand the scope of the effort.  Speaking at a recent Air Force Association breakfast, Mr. John McNellis, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Space, Strategic and Intelligence Systems referenced the need to further leverage the commercial space industry: “To secure these capabilities, DoD and the defense industry must continue to expand our partnerships with commercial enterprise to identify the right emerging technologies needed to ensure the nation is secure in space.”

While participating in a recent DoD Workshop, Pete Hoene, President & CEO of SES Space and Defense proposed ways in which to circumnavigate the perceived challenges of institutionalizing the commercial SATCOM offerings into our National Security Space architecture, meet USG security regulations and increase transparency and communication between the private sector and the federal government.

Improve Information Sharing

During his presentation, Pete encouraged private companies to produce more easily digestible information that focused less on product and service offerings, and more on how these solutions can fit into current government architectures, drive cost-savings, reduce resource requirements and enable the use of next generation technologies. Also, as media consumption changes, he encouraged satellite companies to change with it. This means producing videos, tutorials, apps, infographics and other new forms of media and making it more accessible to decision makers.

Pete also encouraged companies to stop using industry panel presentations to espouse corporate selling points. Instead, he encouraged them to focus on suggested approaches that government end users can take back to headquarters.

Private industry wasn’t the only party that could embrace positive change to overcome the gap between COMSATCOM providers and the government, however. There is also work that the government can do to improve the relationship and make cost-saving COMSATCOM solutions more accessible.

Release More RFI’s

According to Pete, the government should release more Requests for Information (RFI’s). It doesn’t hurt military or government organizations to release multiple RFI’s years in advance of a re-compete or a new and emerging requirement on the horizon. This enables COMSATCOM providers the opportunity to provide invaluable feedback for future Requests for Proposals (RFP’s). The government should also work to ensure that commercial strengths and weaknesses are considered before RFP’s are generated.

Increase Forecast to Industry Days

Finally, the government should expand both their Forecast to Industry days as well as making Industry Days available to a larger audience and make them more frequent. This can be accomplished through co-sponsorships with industry associations to help decrease the cost. The USG should ensure that the location of those engagements can accommodate all industry participants, and that there is a live stream available for those that can’t attend. For example, DISA used to provide a 6-12 month electronic forecast to industry, laying out their thoughts on future demand, but hasn’t routinely done this for quite some time. Regarding private industry, Pete felt it imperative that organizations work tirelessly to increase government participation in industry days. He felt this could be accomplished by making events less expensive and easier to fit into tight government budgets.

Across the board, the federal government is looking for commercial solutions to help decrease both the time and cost of accomplishing a mission. COMSATCOM is one of the areas the USG should be considering when looking for these efficiencies from the private sector. By embracing some of the changes proposed above, both parties – the government and COMSATCOM providers – can continue to build bridges of communication and innovation while enabling an environment where cost-saving COMSATCOM solutions are the backbone of government satellite infrastructures.

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One of the overarching themes at this year’s event was technological “disruption”. The theme wasn’t negative, as in satellite disruption from jamming or interference – although that was discussed at length – but rather optimistic in evaluating disruptive technologies that are going to shake up the industry and impact how the satellite industry operates.

High-throughput satellites (HTS) were atop the list of disruptive technologies discussed.

Every major satellite operator either has launched – or is in the process of launching – HTS satellite constellations. This new generation of satellites has the potential to deliver incredible capabilities and benefits to government agencies, military services and other users simply due to its incredible increase in bandwidth resulting from its ability to take advantage of frequency reuse. This means that each individual satellite can deliver exponentially more data at incredibly higher throughputs than traditional, wideband satellites.

This is extremely essential for military and civilian government organizations, whose demand for reliable connectivity extends beyond the reach of terrestrial networks and out into the field where SATCOM connectivity is the most viable option. HTS enables a high-speed, high-bandwidth experience that is accessible in even the most austere environments. HTS also enables many of the advanced capabilities the military needs in the field, including the delivery of high-quality, real-time intelligence data.

This need was echoed in the remarks of Aneal Krishman, who not only serves as a Principal at Veritas Capital, but also served in Iraq as an infantryman with the U.S. Army Reserve. During a panel discussion titled, “Disruptions and Opportunities: MilSatCom and ComSatCom in Both Space and Ground Segments,” Aneal said, “In Iraq, most of the bandwidth we were using and the technology that was set up, was over commercial networks that were dedicated to the government….for example, the drone program…”

But why is HTS considered disruptive? The answer lies in the cumulative launch of HTS satellites across the industry and the government’s corresponding ability to leverage the advanced capabilities. In some cases, one single HTS satellite can deliver the same capacity as an entire constellation of traditional, wide-band GEO satellites. The result will be the government’s ability to acquire more satellite bandwidth, capacity and capabilities without having to increase spending.

That disruption is important to the evolution of our national space architecture, especially today. Discretionary government funding for social programs, military modernization and homeland security priorities has proven to be limited, leaving many to cut back their spending and reprioritize where they’re putting scarce budget dollars.  Leaders on the various panels at Satellite 2016 certainly recognized fiscal realities and were actively engaged in discussions on how best to leverage the commercial market.

Cost efficiencies and budgets aside, there are other benefits to leveraging commercial HTS constellations. One of which is the ability to utilize this technology sooner.

COMSATCOM providers actively replenish their respective satellite fleets. This means that they’re constantly ordering, provisioning and launching new satellites with exciting new capabilities and innovative new technologies. This includes new HTS constellations that are now either launched or will be launched in the very near future.

The same innovative HTS technologies are available to the government through the satellite manufacturers, such as Lockheed Martin, Northrup Grumman and SSL. However, by the time they allocate budget dollars, compete contracts, select vendors, build satellites, schedule launch and bring that satellite online, years could have passed.

In those years in which the government was, “building it themselves,” there was most likely a similar satellite being built and launched – or already operated – by a COMSATCOM company. Simply put, integrating COMSATCOM into a wider architecture will facilitate technology insertion at commercial industry’s pace and deliver HTS technology to the military – and the advanced capabilities it delivers to the warfighter – much sooner.

This isn’t just sentiment or verbiage espoused solely by the COMSATCOM industry and service providers. Military decision makers have openly acknowledged their inability to keep pace with the COMSATCOM industry. In fact, Doug Loverro, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Space Policy at the Department of Defense (DoD) was quoted as saying, “In order to keep pace with the ever-expanding user need. And the users are incorporating new technologies – video, Internet, streaming services and more we haven’t thought of yet – as fast as the commercial world produces them on the ground. We can’t go ahead and maintain that pace of change in space. The only people that can maintain that rate of change in space is the commercial world.”

Mr. Loverro went on to identify many of the aforementioned economic and process challenges as contributing factors to this disparity between government and industry, citing the WGS satellite constellation as an example. “[The DoD] defined WGS in the 1996 budget that we submitted to the President. That system was defined twenty years ago. The systems that are being launched by the commercial world today were defined two years ago…three years ago. They’re not subject to the bureaucratic process and – quite frankly – the economic process that drive DoD decision makers. And that’s critical because it allows new technology to be ingested.”

The commercial satellite industry has proven quick to integrate leading edge technology into their fleets without significant delay.  The coming disruption of HTS will enable a broader range of COMSATCOM services and solutions to the government – all available at competitive price points.

My time at SATELLITE 2016 reinforced that this truly is an exciting time for the use of COMSATCOM across the military and federal government. The emergence of HTS technology and the launch of next generation HTS constellations not only will provide the bandwidth necessary for truly revolutionary IT services and capabilities in the field, but do so at a drastically reduced cost. The pace at which industry moves will expedite the availability of bandwidth, capacity and advanced capabilities to end users – delivering the connectivity of the future to the tip of the spear today.

To learn more about High Throughput Satellites, click on the resources below:

• High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications
• The Big Beam Boom (High Throughput Satellites)

The post The capacity is coming, the capacity is coming! Why now is the time for COMSATCOM in the federal government appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

The members of this star-studded panel included:

• Warren Ferster: Editor-in-Chief of Space News (moderator)
• Winston Beauchamp: Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force for Space, and the Director, Principal DoD Space Advisor Staff
• Peter F. Hoene: President & CEO, SES Space and Defense
• Rick Lober: VP and GM of the Defense & Intelligence Systems Division at Hughes Network Systems
• Kay Sears: President, Intelsat General
• Leonor Tomero: Professional Staff Member, House Committee on Armed Services
• Joe Vanderpoorten: Space & Missile Systems Center Pathfinder Program Office

Together, these satellite experts explored the difficult situation that the Air Force and the rest of the United States military is facing; namely, the rapidly approaching end of the Wideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) fleet program.

The WGS satellite constellation is comprised of ten disparate spacecraft that were scheduled for launch over the course of a decade. The final WGS satellite – WGS-10 – is slated to launch in FY18. The WGS system is a replacement for the aging Defense Satellite Communications System (DCSC), which had limited capacity compared to WGS and commercial satellites.

At a time of budget uncertainty and cost-cutting within the federal government, the exorbitant price tag on each of the WGS satellites seems unsustainable in both the near and distant future. This has the military looking at less expensive alternatives for satellite communications requirements following the launch of WGS-10. One of the alternatives being discussed across the space segment is the deliberate integration of commercial satellite communications (COMSATCOM) services into the National Security Space architecture.

The reasons to look to COMSATCOM as a key national security enabler were presented by Leonor Tomero, who identified, “new threats, fiscal constraints, [and a] need for resilience,” as drivers for this renewed interest in COMSATCOM services. Ultimately, Ms. Tomero noted that, “Relying more on commercial capability…may be more advantageous for the tax payer…“

Can COMSATCOM answer the call for satellite bandwidth following WGS-10? According to Pete Hoene of SES Space and Defense, “I think the answer to that is, “Yes,” and we are encouraged by…how the industry brings innovative solutions to the table.”

Despite assurances from the COMSTCOM industry that they can handle the bandwidth demands from the military, there are some concerns from the government about using COMSATCOM in this capacity. Many of these concerns circle around the Extremely High Frequency (EHF) wavelength, which has been utilized exclusively in the government satellites due to a lack of business cases to embrace it within the COMSATCOM industry.

This sentiment was echoed by Winston Beauchamp when he stated that the Department of Defense, “Historically [has] not seen a business case for commercial bandwidth in the EHF band.” Despite the DoD being, “committed to close partnerships and collaborations in the industry as we plan our next generation satellite architecture,” Mr. Beauchamp reiterated that, “While DoD is looking for services available commercially, that band is not commercially available.”

Discussion around the EHF and security of satellite communications is at a fever pitch thanks in large part to something that we heard extensively at this year’s SATCON Conference in New York, NY – space is an increasingly contested environment. Our adversaries know the military’s reliance on SATCOM for information sharing, intelligence gathering and remotely piloted aircraft operations, and have made significant strides towards intercepting, jamming, disabling and destruction of satellites and satellite communications.

The lack of EHF capacity on existing COMSATCOM spacecraft doesn’t mean that industry can’t support the military when it comes to providing secure communications.

First, there’s the opportunity to launch EHF payloads as hosted payloads aboard COMSATCOM satellites. In this situation, the military would place their mission-critical EHF payloads on commercial satellites that are slated to be launched in space. The COMSATCOM provider and military would then share the cost of launch and satellite operation, effectively slashing the total cost of launching the payload.

Mr. Beauchamp validated the potential to launch EHF payloads and systems as hosted payloads when he said, “Certainly for protected tactical systems you would want to see options that include hosted payloads.”

But launching EHF systems as hosted payloads is just one way that COMSATCOM services can help protect military satellites and communications. As Mr. Beauchamp explained, “I wouldn’t say that just because COMSATCOM systems don’t have the protections that MILSATCOM has that they are in any way less contributing to a resiliency. In fact, the diversity of these systems in itself contribute to resiliency.”

This increase in resiliency is an end result of deception and distribution. Distributing military communications through COMSATCOM satellites makes it extremely difficult to pinpoint exactly which satellite is carrying mission-critical communications for the U.S. military, making it harder for our adversaries to target a particular spacecraft. Mr. Beauchamp illustrated this point when he explained how COMSATCOM, “provide[s a] very complex environment to adversaries [and]… make[s] it as difficult as possible for them to really understand what it would take to hold our capabilities at risk.”

But deception is just one resiliency benefit of COMSATCOM. The distribution of military communications across multiple satellites – including COMSATCOM satellites – ensures that there is no one single point of failure, and that the compromise of one satellite doesn’t impact communications as a whole.

Despite the promise of secure military communications across COMSATCOM, and the ability to drastically reduce the cost of satellite bandwidth and capabilities across the military, there are still questions about how best to acquire and pay for satellite services. To gauge the effectiveness of different COMSATCOM services and their cost benefits, the Air Force launched a series of programs called, “Pathfinders.” These Pathfinder programs utilize acquisition dollars to purchase transponders that are then turned over to COMSATCOM providers to operate and service for a multiyear period.

When discussing the first Pathfinder program, panelist Peter Hoene of SES Space and Defense said, “[Pathfinder One] is a really key initiative and…broke a lot new ground. The idea of the government buying…a transponder and allowing the COMSATCOM owner/operator to operate that for their needs is really a breakthrough.”

The benefits of the Pathfinder program were extolled by Joe Vanderpoorten of the Air Force Space & Missile Systems Center, who claimed that the Pathfinder One program has been successful in delivering bandwidth to the customer, while also being, “successful economically.”

With the WGS program coming to a quick and abrupt end, the DoD and Congress need to identify how they’re going to bring new satellite capabilities on line following the launch of WGS-10. The panel discussion showed that COMSATCOM can provide the new technologies, increased flexibility and cost savings that are essential to the military today. By continuing to aggregate COMSATCOM purchasing under the authority of a single entity, finding new and innovative ways to purchase COMSATCOM services and working to integrate COMSATCOM services into a single network with military satellite capabilities, the DoD can be sure that they have a secure, resilient satellite network capable of delivering information when and where needed, in all situations and theaters.

Additional Resources:

• Sign up for upcoming WSBR events here
• Overview: SES Space and Defense Support for Pathfinder I
• U.S. Air Force Signs trailblazing Lease for SES Satellite Capacity – Space News

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