On Wednesday, September 8, SATELLITE held the “Reducing Ground Infrastructure Costs in the New Space Supply-Chain” session, where Leaf Space, IT’s U.S. Managing Director, Jai Dialani, moderated a panel discussion that included:

• Assaf Cohen, Global Vice President Sales and Marketing, SpaceBridge Inc.
• Stuart Daughtridge, Vice President, Kratos
• Paul Mattear, Principal Business Development Manager, Amazon Web Services
• Sergy A. Mummert, Senior Vice President, Business Development, Americas, SES
• Richard Schgallis, Executive Vice President, Space and Communications USA, Safran Data Systems

There is always constant speculation about the “future” of the space economy, and how it will include increased demands for satellite services and capabilities, higher speeds, and ubiquitous access. But the experts on this panel explained that these high demands already exist and will only be growing larger in the coming years. But, there is one huge roadblock standing in the way to satisfying these needs.

Over the past decade, the technological improvements that have taken place in the space layer have been monumental. According to Daughtridge, these technological advancements have equipped software defined satellites with “unbelievable capabilities.” And the wide array of missions that the space layer can support are vast. Today’s satellites have the ability to enable orbital transport, Earth observation, IoT, broadband communications, and cislunar missions.

According to Schgallis, “We are rapidly approaching this point where systems will become multi-mission capable, with higher and higher data rates, and multi-band terminals…There’s this goal to make things as widely compatible for economies of scale as possible.”

“The ground segment needs to catch up to basically enable those capabilities that have been put in the spacecraft.” – Stuart Daughtridge

The issue that is preventing the deployment of these services is that the ground segment systems meant to direct and control these satellite missions are years behind in their own development, rendering a satellite’s potential capabilities untapped and unused.

And this untapped space layer potential can translate into major losses for satellite providers. “The ground segment’s behind,” said Daughtridge. “The ground segment needs to catch up to basically enable those capabilities that have been put in the spacecraft. Because right now, it’s really hard to monetize the capabilities that those satellites have.”

In other words, it doesn’t matter how great a satellite is if the ground segment can’t support it. So what can be done to catch these ground segments up?

According to Mattear, “One of the issues that we have with ground infrastructure is a lack of standards across the board.” As the satellite industry continues to move towards utilizing more partner-developed software defined systems, there must be a standard that they can develop towards. “Otherwise, you end up with a single stovepipe system,” said Mattear. “And that stovepipe system doesn’t let you monetize.”

The consequences from the lack of interoperability spread far beyond satellite providers. The U.S. military is working to embrace a combined MILSATCOM and COMSATCOM architecture that will deliver the increased satellite bandwidth they need for today’s network-enabled operations, and give them access to the innovation of the commercial satellite industry. However, the lack of interoperability in ground networks and hardware is making this combined architecture difficult to achieve.

“One of the issues that we have with ground infrastructure is a lack of standards across the board.” – Paul Mattear

According to Frank Backes, senior vice president for Federal Space at Kratos, “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.”

Through standardization, satellite and ground system providers would be able to implement solutions and services that would reduce ground infrastructure costs, and, according to Mattear, “allow that to be monetized by other customers, help that symbiotic chain generate revenue across the board, and more importantly, support the end customer.”

But how does that standardization happen? All the panelists agreed that virtualization and digitization, like moving towards cloud technologies, are key.

According to Mummert digitization and virtualization are not only game changers in reducing ground infrastructure costs, but they also provide opportunities for new service models. “Having more infrastructure distributed across a global network, like AWS…is really a game changer for the satellite operators.”

With the promises of being able to move a lot of the work into cloud environments, and making the access compatible, no matter where the customer is, is “opening up a lot of doors” according to Schgallis. “I’m very excited about these opportunities, and our organization is actively working in this vein with as much virtualization and cloud processing as possible.”

Virtualization also accelerates the move from purpose-built hardware to mission unique software. “In software applications, especially in a cloud environment where you can spin up service chains and things like that, you can get the resiliency and the scalability that a cloud offers,” explained Daughtridge. “It allows you to have flexibilities for multiple different missions, with the same basic generic hardware, because you can change the personality of the infrastructure.”

Implementing these service models, through virtualization, means that satellite provider customers who are used to consuming cloud resources in the terrestrial world, can now have access to them via satellite. “The model makes sense to them,” said Mummert. “The interoperability is very important to them. It just enables a whole new ecosystem and economy.”

“We want standards. We want to drive scale for the industry. I think this is the right direction, but it needs more work. But we’ll get there.” – Sergy Mummert

But this does pose a challenge for ground segment developers, such as panelist Assaf Cohen. According to Cohen, “From the ground segment perspective…we have a lot of complexities. We have to deal with many new technologies with many orbits.” He explained that the challenges lie within developing the software to cope with all of the hardware challenges.

“We have to be interoperable,” explained Cohen. “To connect all these dots and implement the standards, we are an integral part and not just the one supporting the network.” He went on to say that the challenges get even more complicated because everything must become interoperable in real time.

To remedy these challenges, several groups have popped up within the industry to support a standardization dialogue. And Mummert happens to be on one of them. “We want standards,” said Mummert. “We want to drive scale for the industry. I think this is the right direction, but it needs more work. But we’ll get there.”

In the end, all of the issues of standardization and virtualization comes down to the partner ecosystem coming together to solve these immense challenges. According to Mummert, when industry partners cross-collaborate, “You open up these doors and create interoperability and opportunities for things to be created on your platform.”

The post How ground segment systems are rendering innovative satellite capabilities useless appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

On Wednesday, September 8, SATELLITE held the “Satellite Cybersecurity” session, where SES Space and Defense’s Vice President of Corporate Development, Todd Gossett, moderated a panel discussion that included:

• Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, Senior Vice President, Government Strategy & Policy U.S. Government Business Unit, Inmarsat, Inc.
• Dianne Poster, Senior Advisor, National Institute of Standards and Technology
• Jared Reece, Program Analyst, COMSATCOM Solutions Branch, U.S. Space Force

Today’s warfighters rely on space like they’ve never had before. Through advancements in satellite technology, the infrastructure of the U.S. military is now provided with critical warfighting capabilities that were not available in the past. But with each new advancement over the past few decades, these capabilities are now integrated so deeply into critical warfighting functions, it’s incumbent upon satellite providers, and the agencies that procure them, to ensure that those capabilities are available, when and where those warfighters need them.

One of the greatest and ever-growing threats to providing these capabilities to the military is today’s cyber threat landscape. As the attacks from nation-state hackers and other malicious actors become increasingly sophisticated, the potential for mission-critical IT capabilities or applications to be comprised or denied has risen. When capabilities and functions provided by satellites are interrupted, warfighters can lose communication and situational awareness, military operations can fail, and in worst case scenarios, American lives could be lost.

According to Gossett, “Both industry and government have taken a hard look at this over the past several years. And we are taking actions collectively to address this landscape that we’re now deployed in.”

Reece pointed out that, “With the transition away from strictly MILSATCOM to bringing in more commercial SATCOM, this is becoming a more impactful topic to the warfighter.” Though the innovation from industry is imperative for the success of today’s military, commercial systems and equipment must go through thorough evaluations and inspection to ensure that they have best-of-breed cybersecurity posture.

To combat these risks and threats, federal government agencies, the military, and industry are coming together to ensure that space systems, and the satellites they run on, have gone through rigorous cybersecurity evaluation and testing in order to prevent cybersecurity attacks.

Within the last few years, the White House, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the U.S. Space Force, and other federal agencies, have released directives and guidance specifically focusing on bolstering the cybersecurity posture requirements of current space systems and satellites, while simultaneously doing the same for new systems that are being brought into the market.

As space systems innovate and evolve in the future, cybersecurity threats will undoubtedly keep pace in their sophistication and boldness. It is imperative that new systems brought in from the commercial market have the highest level of cybersecurity possible. When these criteria are met, the federal government and military can rest assured knowing they are deploying space systems and satellites that were designed with the utmost innovation and security in mind.

One of these cybersecurity directives is the Space Policy Directive – 5 (SPD-5), which was released by the White House last year. SPD-5 serves as the nation’s first comprehensive cybersecurity policy for space systems. SPD-5 establishes key cybersecurity principles to guide and serve as the foundation for America’s approach to the cyber protection of space systems.

According to the directive, “It is essential to protect space systems from cyber incidents in order to prevent disruptions to their ability to provide reliable and efficient contributions to the operations of the nation’s critical infrastructure.”

Reece praised the directive by saying, “I was actually really excited to see this come out, because one of the things that our office has been doing for years is that integration that SPD-5 is asking for.”

Cowen-Hirsch echoed Reece’s sentiment by adding, “I think what SPD-5 has done is really elevate the focus of space as well.” She acknowledged that there have been many directives about systems cybersecurity, but she explained, “These have been largely focused on information systems, but not necessarily space. So that intersection between space and cyberspace and the threat vectors that we’re seeing, and the reality that the satellite is yet another node on those networks, is very significant.”

On the NIST side of the conversation, Poster explained, “At NIST, we do take SPD-5 as sort of a fundamental core basis of policy development for where we’re focusing cybersecurity efforts for not only satellites, but space systems.”

Not only does SPD-5 lay the groundwork for satellite cybersecurity policy, but it also underscores the importance of fostering “practices within U.S. government and commercial space operations that protect space assets and their supporting infrastructure from cyber threats.”

Luckily, many COMSATCOM providers are already meeting – or exceeding – the cybersecurity guidance in SPD-5. For example, SES is already ahead of the curve when it comes to implementing the recommendations in SPD-5. Gossett highlighted the fact that SES’s highly anticipated medium Earth orbit (MEO) satellite constellation, O3b mPOWER, is fully compliant with SPD-5. Gossett said, “We’ve spent significant time and effort trying to build in cybersecurity from a lifecycle approach into our latest satellite system, mPOWER…This is something that we bake in.”

The introduction of SPD-5 could ultimately provide two positives for the U.S. government and military. The creation of the guidance has established a baseline of security for commercial satellite services and solutions that can assuage any existing governmental concerns or fears about the security of satellite solutions. Seeing that a satellite service or solution meets the recommendations in the guidance ensures that the vendor puts a high priority on security and mission assurance.

This peace of mind is what will drive the second benefit – opening the door for government and military organizations to benefit from the innovation and cost-savings that comes from utilizing commercial satellite services. It’s widely acknowledged across the government that commercial industry is now the leader in space innovation. By eliminating a barrier that may have kept some government and military organizations from eschewing COMSATCOM services for purpose-built satellites, SPD-5 is making that innovation available for these organizations at a fraction of the capital expense.

The post How SPD-5 is paving the way for satellite and space systems cybersecurity appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

On Wednesday, September 8, SATELLITE held “The Future of Global Satellite Connectivity” general session, where SATELLITE 2021 Chair, Jeffrey Hill, moderated a panel discussion that included:

• Steve Collar, CEO of SES
• Jonathan Hofeller, Vice President of Starlink Commercial Sales
• Brian Barritt, Leader at Connectivity @ Facebook
• Kevin Steen, CEO of ST Engineering iDirect

Global connectivity is an increasingly important topic for government and military organizations today. As digital transformation initiatives and network-enabled platforms and systems continue to make their way into government organizations, the need for connectivity at the edge becomes more mission-critical. Afterall, government employees in the field and military personnel at the tactical edge can only access network-enabled and software-enabled systems if they have connectivity.

But it’s not just about connecting government employees and military personnel.

As government becomes increasingly online and digital, constituents also need connectivity if they’re going to be able to effectively and efficiently access government information, and citizen services. And organizations like schools, hospitals, and other government organizations will only suffer from an increasing digital divide if they can’t access next-generation digital tools and services.

But, in 2021, is connectivity really an issue? Unfortunately, the panel’s answer was overwhelmingly, “yes.”

“There’s still over 3.5 billion people on earth that lack internet access,” said Barritt. “And the problem of connecting the unconnected is one that’s highly related to population density around the world.”

That population density problem that Barritt referenced is simply one of economics for terrestrial network providers. It simply doesn’t make financial sense for terrestrial network providers to invest in extending their networks to places like rural America, geographically-isolated locations, and areas with small populations because they may never see a return on that advancement.

But that’s one area where satellite can be a solution.

According to Barritt, for population dense areas that have the best economic development, fiber will take the lead in building out connectivity. But he also pointed out that terrestrial networks alone will not enable ubiquitous connectivity on a global level. Satellites will inevitably be the bridge that ushers in connectivity to every part of the world.

“You can’t solve the problem, especially in rural areas, without satellite connectivity,” said Barritt. “It’s an absolutely vital piece of the connected ecosystem.”

And that’s a problem that the panelists representing commercial satellite providers were more than eager to tackle.

When asked to explain the mission of SES, Collar answered that the company’s purpose – as well as his personal purpose – is to do the extraordinary in space to deliver experiences on the ground. Collar explained that the “extraordinary” aspect speaks to how hard it is to conquer the incredibly difficult space environment that SES satellites are launched into, while delivery pertains to the broadcast and network side of the satellite connectivity business.

When the extraordinary meets delivery, combined with satellite capability that extends reach and connectivity to the edge, Collar said that it is possible to deliver the most “amazing experiences ever on Earth.”

Steen expressed that there is a sense of fulfillment that comes with providing connectivity to schools, disaster relief teams, and government defenses around the world. According to Steen, this sense of fulfillment completely aligns with ST Engineering iDirect’s overall purpose, which is “supporting customers who reach those end users and support the enterprises.”

This sentiment was echoed by Collar, who referred to satellite as, “…a sort of a terrestrial alternative in the parts of the world where…terrestrial doesn’t exist yet.”

And while satellite has the potential to deliver the connectivity necessary to bring digital services to governments – and their constituents –in even the most remote or isolated of geographies, there is still one major problem; who pays for it?

Hill closed the session by asking the panelists about their views on whether satellite technology should be subsidized, as well as what steps they would like to see from the federal government.

According to Collar, there is an expressed interest in subsidizing satellite technology from governments around the world. He explained that, for the most part, government investments in space would fall into one of three buckets: rural inclusion, the strategic importance of space for defense, and the space economy.

Regardless of who pays for the delivery of connectivity via satellite, there’s no argument that the need for ubiquitous connectivity is already immense, and only growing.

“One thing that doesn’t really get questioned is whether the need for broadband and the need for connectivity is going to continue to grow,” Collar explained. “…is it going to continue to grow extremely quickly? I think the answer to that is yes.”

With digital transformation among the largest trend across all levels of government, it’s rather obvious to see why that need for broadband is increasing. If governments are going to continue to embrace digital solutions and network-enabled systems in their operations, connectivity becomes absolutely mission-critical. And as IT services and tools continue to reshape healthcare, education, and other essential services, a lack of connectivity will only create a dangerous digital divide.

This panel discussion made it abundantly clear that satellite can offer a solution, but governments may need to be willing to invest to make that a reality.

The post Satellite executives discuss the future of global connectivity at SATELLITE 2021 appeared first on SES Space and Defense.