Understanding that cloud customers will rely on satellite to access their cloud services and cloud-native applications in geographically remote and isolated areas, Microsoft recently launched Azure Space, and announced a number of innovative partnerships with satellite providers, such as SES Space and Defense. They also introduced Azure Orbital and the Azure Modular Data Center, which are designed to help make cloud connectivity at the tactical edge easier for government cloud users.

In the second part of our illuminating interview with Steve, we set out to learn more about these exciting announcements from Azure Space. We also discussed how innovations in the space and satellite industry are opening the door for the ubiquitous, global connectivity necessary to power government cloud and digital transformation initiatives.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): While our readers are undoubtedly familiar with Microsoft Azure, they may not be as familiar with Azure Space, which I understand is a relatively new entity. Can you tell our readers a bit more about Azure Space and its mission?

Steve Kitay: Microsoft publicly launched Azure Space a year ago, although we’ve been working on standing it up for more than two years. The mission of Azure Space is bringing the cloud and space together to empower our customers both on and off the planet.

Our approach to Azure Space is through partnerships and enabling an ecosystem. Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.

We also have cutting-edge AI and machine learning (ML) algorithms to drive insights from the data coming from space. We are also supporting the developer community with unique simulation and digital engineering capabilities. And lastly, while we’re not building or launching our own satellites, we’re bringing our innovation into space.

For example, HP has a computer on the ISS called the Spaceborne computer that we’ve connected to the hyperscale cloud to enable researchers and astronauts to do more. There are a variety of innovation areas that we’re exploring and working on both on and off the planet.

GSR: What is Microsoft Azure Orbital? What does it enable government cloud users to do?

Steve Kitay: Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud. It also enables Azure services to be deployed to generate products for their customers.

“Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.” – Steve Kitay

Ultimately, it provides modern ground segment technologies, allowing satellite operators to focus on their space mission and product, offloading the responsibility of deployment and maintenance of ground station assets.

The system that we’ve built out is on top of Azure’s global infrastructure and low-latency global fiber networks. The capability of Azure Orbital is building upon a partner ecosystem that includes KSAT, ViaSat, Kratos, Emergent Space Technologies, and several others.

GSR: What about the Microsoft Modular Data Center (MDC)? What is the MDC and what does it do? How is it different from other data centers? What can it enable for government cloud users?

Steve Kitay: We have a suite of edge capabilities, and the MDC is one of them. The MDC and our other edge devices enable the use of Azure from anywhere in the world.

MDC gives customers the capability to deploy a modular data center to remote locations, or to augment existing infrastructure. A major differentiator for the MDC is that customers can run the unit with full network connectivity, or in situations where it’s occasionally connected or even fully disconnected.

“Microsoft isn’t building and launching its own satellites, but rather partnering with others that do to provide connectivity solutions both to space systems, and anywhere on earth.” – Steve Kitay

We have also built in an ability to have satellite connectivity with SES, and other providers, to enable the data center to be connected back to the hyperscale cloud.

GSR: In a recent press release, it was announced that Microsoft would leverage the SES multi-orbit satellite system to give government entities to cloud resources practically anywhere on the globe. Why is a multi-orbit satellite solution ideal for this? What advantages does a multi-orbit constellation or service have over one that is in a single, dedicated orbit?

Steve Kitay: SES is a close partner of Microsoft, and their multi-orbit satellite constellation allows us to better service our customers.

By enabling our customers to access different satellite services at different orbits, we’re giving them the choice and flexibility to choose the right satellite service for their needs and requirements.

Satellite services from different orbits have different advantages, and different satellite services may be optimal for a particular customer’s needs and requirements. By enabling access to multiple options, Microsoft ensures that they have different options they need to meet their needs in regard to pricing, bandwidth, capacity, latency and other factors.

“Azure Orbital is a fully managed, cloud-based ground station as a service that allows users to communicate with their satellite constellation. This allows them to download data, uplink commands, and process data in the cloud.” – Steve Kitay

Our approach brings together partnerships and products to create a comprehensive and resilient satellite tool and solutions that meet the needs of our customers.

GSR: SES is on the precipice of launching a new satellite service – SES O3b mPOWER. What will this new service mean for government and military cloud users? How can it change what is currently possible at the tactical edge?

Steve Kitay: O3b mPOWER is a satellite constellation that we’re specifically partnering with and that they’re leveraging Azure Orbital for ground infrastructure. It’s a Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite service that delivers a tremendous increase in flexibility and throughput speed, and cloud-scale capacity to Azure locations across the Earth. And, ultimately, what that means for customers is that fiber-equivalent connectivity will now be available wherever users are located – including in the air, at sea, or on the ground in remote sites in geographically-isolated regions.

O3b mPOWER is delivering secure and resilient network architecture for robust connectivity whether the mission is establishing a secure network at a tactical edge or deploying a UAV for live HD video along a border. Governments worldwide are looking for these kinds of connectivity solutions to meet their needs. What we’re doing with SES is bringing the connectivity and compute together so that they’re not just moving the data, but they’re deriving insights and understanding from that data.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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This digital transformation was arguably kickstarted by the widespread adoption of the cloud and cloud resources across the government. And it’s being driven forward by cloud-native applications that are being developed, deployed, and hosted in the cloud, where they can be accessed by government and military personnel whenever and wherever the mission requires.

While this digital transformation will only result in the government becoming more effective and efficient, it can only succeed if connectivity and access to cloud resources are ubiquitous across the globe.

The connectivity required for government and military organizations to access and utilize cloud services at the tactical edge is most effectively delivered by satellite. This is creating new collaborations and partnerships between those that operate satellite networks, and the organizations that provide cutting-edge cloud services.

One of the cloud providers leading the pack in embracing satellite connectivity is Microsoft Azure, which recently launched Azure Space, and announced a number of innovative partnerships with satellite providers, such as SES Space and Defense.

We recently sat down with Steve Kitay, the Senior Director of Azure Space at Microsoft, to discuss the trends driving the need for satellite and cloud partnerships, and how cloud services delivered via satellite could revolutionize how governments operate.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Transitioning to the cloud has been a major initiative for the government over the course of the last few years. What types of cloud use cases are we seeing in the government? What different types of applications and workloads are being moved to the cloud by government agencies? Are mission-critical workloads making their way into the cloud?

Steve Kitay: Government agencies want to benefit from commercial cloud innovation. They want to take advantage of its speed, its scale, and its agility. Transitioning to the cloud reduces costs, provides access to the latest technologies, and diminishes the burden of having to maintain their own legacy infrastructure.

We see government agencies moving a range of workloads to the cloud to rapidly grow their mission capabilities. At the start of the COVID pandemic, we saw a rapid shift to cloud services to enable secure remote work environments through Azure Commercial and Government Clouds, and through the Office 365 productivity suites.

We’re seeing this shift to the cloud across a range of agencies. We’re working with a number of agencies, in particular, to help them use the cloud to solve their mission problems. The Department of Agriculture has leveraged a project called Farm Beats that accesses Azure’s repositories of analytics tools to understand data, and uses AI to help farmers cut costs, increase yields and sustainably grow crops that are more resilient to threats like climate change.

“When we bring (IoT and hybrid infrastructure) together, with AI running across these systems, we enter into an era of Intelligent Edge – a continually expanding set of connected systems and devices that gather and analyze information close to the physical world where the data resides and is harvested.” – Steve Kitay

The Department of Defense (DoD) is working on building out its enterprise cloud capabilities. Branches within the DoD, such as the Air Force, have deployed their own instances. Air Force Cloud One is a good example of a military branch using the cloud to provide foundational cloud capabilities, including networking, monitoring, access control, and identity management.

GSR: Are we seeing the need across different levels and organizations within the government for access to cloud solutions in the field, off-grid, and at the tactical edge? What is driving this requirement? What types of capabilities and applications are they looking to access?

Steve Kitay: The U.S. Government has been clear that they are trying to tap into commercial innovation to unlock new mission scenarios that were simply not possible before. There are two trends that we’re seeing in the government that really illustrate that.

The first trend is the Internet of Things (IoT), which utilizes smart sensors, connected devices, and other network-enabled endpoints to change the way that agencies approach problems. From equipment maintenance, to measuring air quality, to smart cities, and even military outposts, they’re implementing devices that are cloud-connected by default.

The other trend is movement towards hybrid infrastructure – or the integration of traditional datacenter infrastructure, edge devices, and the public cloud. This gives the government access to more compute capabilities in even the world’s most remote locations.

When we bring these two technology trends together, with AI running across these systems, we enter into an era of Intelligent Edge – a continually expanding set of connected systems and devices that gather and analyze information close to the physical world where the data resides and is harvested. This enables them to get real-time insights and immersive experiences that are highly responsive and contextually aware.

There is a space program that is a great example of the Intelligent Edge called the Casino Program, which was done with the Defense Innovation Unit in support of the U.S. Space Force. The rising number of satellites proliferating in low earth orbit (LEO) presents a new data challenge for the ground segment of missions—a segment that is often overlooked.

The Casino Program Office demonstrated fast, flexible, and extensible cloud commercial capabilities for ground processing in support of defense missions.  In this project, the joint Ball Aerospace and Microsoft team demonstrated the ability to transmit overhead, persistent infrared data through commercial satellites to the ground and then be processed both in the hyperscale Azure data center, as well as directly to a tactical vehicle in the field that was equipped with an Azure stack edge device.

“The need for bandwidth and cloud services in remote locations is a large and growing global challenge. The alignment and integration of the Azure cloud with satellites and terrestrial networks further enables the connected, Intelligent Edge…” – Steve Kitay

In this scenario, the overhead satellites transmitted the images of the environment, and that data was then pushed to both Azure and the Azure stack edge device where machine learning algorithms processed the images and detected certain activities and features. This machine learning identification generated insights which were converted into messages and disseminated to multiple endpoints.

This project represents a huge leap forward in reducing the time to actionable insight—if users are on the ground in a tactical edge vehicle or located at a command center, users can obtain necessary information accurately, quickly, and securely.

GSR: How else could access to cloud resources at the tactical edge or on the battlefield impact our warfighters? What could it enable them to do? What services/capabilities could it make possible for them?

Steve Kitay: Well, another great example is the Army’s IVAS program, which is bringing state-of-the-art cloud and mixed reality capability to soldiers at the tactical edge.

The IVAS headset, which is based on HoloLens and augmented by Azure cloud services, delivers a platform that keeps soldiers safer and makes them more effective. The program delivers enhanced situational awareness, enabling information sharing, and decision making for a variety of scenarios.

GSR: Microsoft has been working with satellite providers – including SES – to enable remote, off-grid access to cloud resources. Why is satellite the right choice for this?

Steve Kitay: Satellite is the right choice because space provides is a global perspective. It enables us to connect people anywhere, whether they’re in the middle of the ocean, the desert, or anywhere else on the Earth.

What is changing now with satellite communications is the type of services being offered. New services are now available with higher bandwidth and lower latencies. And space-generated data is growing exponentially, which requires expanded ground control capabilities, as well as data processing, storage, and analytics to turn that data into knowledge and actionable insights.

The need for bandwidth and cloud services in remote locations is a large and growing global challenge. The alignment and integration of the Azure cloud with satellites and terrestrial networks further enables the connected, Intelligent Edge that I referenced earlier.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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Both SES and Boeing have touted the satellites that will comprise the O3b mPOWER service as revolutionary in their capacity, flexibility, latency, and automation. Those features are among the reasons why many companies – including Microsoft and four of the top five major cruise companies– have contracted for service on the system before it’s even launched.

In the second part of our conversation with Ryan, we explore what makes the O3b mPOWER service so automated, what that automation means for users, and how the flexibility and scalability of O3b mPOWER could open the door for advanced capabilities specifically for government and military users.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): In addition to the drastically increased throughputs, SES has often touted mPOWER as a more scalable and automated solution that can give users more control over their satellite service, while also making satellite easier to use. How is this being accomplished? What advancements are making these satellites more scalable and automated?

Ryan Reid: With a new generation of software defined satellites, there is an inherent complexity involved. With this satellite infrastructure, we’ve worked to bake in the necessary automation of that complexity – management of that complexity – onto the satellite. This means that we’re not driving the complexity down to the ground systems and end-users.

SES is able to manage the asset like a network switch. And the end-users that have access to the network don’t have to worry about that complexity. They can engage at the network edge as a network guest. This simplifies the end user’s ability to get the resources that they need when they need them. It doesn’t push complexity onto the user. It makes their lives easier – not harder.

With the systems and automation that we’re building into the satellites and system, an end-user can have an iPad out in the field and simply increase the bandwidth that’s available, direct service to different geographic regions, or move capacity around, all through control of the network.

When it comes to the military, planning resources is a huge endeavor that involves coordinating across multiple offices. We’ve taken a lot of work away by making the allocation of resources much easier and much more agile – enabling scalability as missions requirements change. That’s where the automation comes in – resource management through the SES ARC system that is complemented by the avionics and intelligence in the spacecraft, itself.

“By enabling the command and control function to get the data they need to make better decisions in the field, government and military users can increase the speed of decision-making. That can be a real game-changer.” – Ryan Reid, Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems

Here’s an example of how this might look in the field. If a military customer needs to backhaul data from a special operations mission or ISR platform, they could almost instantaneously allocate a large swath of bandwidth to the location, exfiltrate data, and then move that bandwidth somewhere else where it’s needed just a few minutes later. And all of that is possible without having to go through weeks-long coordination within the government.

GSR: Why is automation and scalability like this useful for government and military users? What would this mean for the actual “boots on the ground” users of satellite and applications delivered via satellite?

Ryan Reid: What that means is that their experience of getting data and connectivity looks and feels like they’re at home. If we need situational awareness, weather reports, or access to reporting, they can simply log in and get that. It’s available.

It means that they don’t need special radio or satellite operators radioing back and getting that information. They have their ruggedized devices that they can log into, connect and get the information that they need when they need it. It’s connectivity in the field on par with what they have back in headquarters or back at home.

“[O3b mPOWER] simplifies the end user’s ability to get the resources that they need when they need them. It doesn’t push complexity onto the user. It makes their lives easier – not harder.” – Ryan Reid, Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems

This means more access, more coordination, and better communications. This means command and control in real-time from the tactical front line. Real-time data for more informed decision-making. And better access to MWR services and capabilities because there is no longer a need to choose between MWR capabilities and mission-critical applications.

GSR: mPOWER has been touted for its ability to give users control over the size and allocation of forward and return beams. Why would this be useful for government or military users? What could this enable them to do?

Ryan Reid: The symmetry of forward and return beams can enable military and government users to push decision-making out to the tactical edge. By enabling the command and control function to get the data they need to make better decisions in the field, government and military users can increase the speed of decision-making. That can be a real game-changer.

Ultimately, the government and military don’t want tactical operators sitting around waiting for data or intelligence. They also want the data and intelligence that is available to them to be as up-to-date and real-time as possible. A symmetric forward and return beam – enabling data to be pushed and received in real-time – can enable that.

O3b mPOWER eliminates the return link restraints that government and military users faced with previous systems, including other, traditional HTS (high-throughput satellite) systems. Typically, these systems were designed with an asymmetric forward and return. Most of the data was pushed out, and very little is received.

“…the need for ubiquitous connectivity is only becoming more essential. O3b mPOWER is going to be a major player in enabling the government to embrace modern applications, cloud services, and other next-generation solutions at the tactical edge.” – Ryan Reid, Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems

O3b mPOWER enables symmetric forward and return, if necessary, but it also delivers the flexibility and agility to change that based on the mission requirements. If the user needs a full 2.5 GHZ return beam over an ISR platform to quickly and efficiently pull data off of that platform, they can enable that. If they need to push 2.5 GHZ to a vehicle to push a software update, they can enable that. If they need to direct a number of return beams into an area to locate a lost unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV), they can do that, too.

GSR: When it comes to government users – especially the military – resiliency and security are of paramount importance. What has been implemented in the O3b mPOWER satellites to make them more resilient and secure? What is inherent in these satellites and their orbit that makes them more assured for government and military users?

Ryan Reid: Boeing has several decades of experience in the development of commercial and government platforms. There are a great number of best practices and lessons learned from decades of designing and building military satellites that we’ve leveraged in the design and construction of the O3b mPOWER satellites.

While the 702X platform employs a lot of new technologies and the software defined payload is revolutionary, the backbone of the satellite is based on the 702 platform that has a long history of performance, mission assurance and reliability. We want to build satellites that exceed their mission lives. We don’t want to fix what’s not broken, but we also want to innovate. So, we innovated on a highly reliable, highly proven platform in the 702 platform.

The constellation’s operation in the MEO orbit delivers inherent resiliency. There are multiple satellites moving overhead at high velocity. If an asset is compromised, another is coming by shortly thereafter, which delivers inherent resiliency. There are typically multiple satellites in a field of view, which creates a resilient system through asset diversity and redundancy.

“If a military customer needs to backhaul data from a special operations mission or ISR platform, they could almost instantaneously allocate a large swath of bandwidth to the location, exfiltrate data, and then move that bandwidth somewhere else where it’s needed just a few minutes later.” – Ryan Reid, Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems

From a security standpoint, we have employed CNSSP-12 security, including command and telemetry links have been encrypted to the highest standard for non-government-owned assets. There are multiple layers of security, resiliency and reliability that all work together to make this a highly available, secure, and reliable system for the military.

GSR: Big picture, how do you see O3b mPOWER changing the way global governments operate off-grid and at the tactical edge? How will it revolutionize how they operate in the field?

Ryan Reid: Having broadband network access at the edge allows access to information and communication for decision making, training exercises, remote medicine, remote connectivity and other capabilities at a scale that isn’t currently available.

This is an important supplement to the assets the military currently uses. There are a lot of different choices for government comms over commercial and the flexibility and scale that O3b mPOWER delivers has the potential to be revolutionary.

As the government continues to embrace digital transformation and embraces network-enabled services and applications across all of its operations, the need for ubiquitous connectivity is only becoming more essential. O3b mPOWER is going to be a major player in enabling the government to embrace modern applications, cloud services, and other next-generation solutions at the tactical edge.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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Since the procurement of the O3b mPOWER constellation was first announced in 2017, SES has touted it as a revolutionary advancement in connectivity and communications from space. But what makes the system – and the spacecraft that powers it – different from other high throughput satellite (HTS) constellations? What technological advancements does it offer from its O3b successor? And what services or capabilities will military and government users gain access to when this new service launches?

To get the answers to these questions, we sat down with Ryan Reid, the President of Boeing Commercial Satellite Systems, International.

Government Satellite Report (GSR): Last month, Boeing invited press and space experts to sneak a peek at the new O3b mPOWER satellites. At a high level, what makes these satellites so different from traditional HTS satellites in geostationary orbit (GEO)?

Ryan Reid: There are technological differences between the mPOWER satellites and a traditional HTS satellite. The O3b mPOWER satellites are based on our 702X platform. The core difference between traditional HTS satellites – such as those built with our 702 platform – and the 702X platform is full software-defined flexibility.

With traditional high throughput satellites (HTS) there is a digital payload that allows you to flexibly allocate the satellite’s resources. However, there are limits to how much flexibility the user has. With the 702X platform being used on O3b mPOWER, it is much more flexible and manageable, even while it’s in orbit.

For example, with SES’s O3b mPOWER satellites, users can control satellite resources while on orbit completely through software. The beams can be allocated to one location or can be spread out and shaped however the user wants purely by software control.

And that gives users a new level of flexibility, scale, and control that is generally unmatched by the traditional HTS architecture.

GSR: How are they different from the existing SES O3b satellite constellation in MEO? What advancements do these satellites offer that those did not?

Ryan Reid: When we had our media event last month, the CEO of SES, Steve Collar, referred to the introduction of these satellites as going from an iPhone One to an iPhone 12. I personally think the example should be going from a push-button telephone to an iPhone 12 or the newly introduced iPhone 13. It introduces a new level of functionality, capacity, and flexibility that is fundamentally different.

If we look at the current O3b satellites, they are very traditional satellites. The constellation includes 20 satellites, each with 10 individually steerable spot beams that connect to steerable gateway beams. SES, as the network service provider, has constraints on how they provide that connectivity to their users because of this architecture. It’s similar to what exists in traditional GEO HTS. There are users and you have gateways, and you have to connect them, which limits service providers to a certain number of set network topographies.

Looking at the O3b mPOWER satellites, the entire construct of the user and the gateway is eliminated. Instead of ten beams to connect with users and two beams for gateways, you have 5,000 beams that you can do anything with. So, there is no longer a concept of a “user” and a “gateway.”

As we began this journey with SES, we started with a more traditional network structure with users and gateways. But then, it became apparent that what they really needed was a network switch in the sky. And that caused Boeing and SES to do a hard pivot, bring in new technologies that we were developing for some time, and create something that is truly software-defined and flexible, and that functions as a layer two network switch in orbit. This gives users complete flexibility into how the network is designed and implemented, and even allows you to change it over the life of the system.

“Instead of ten beams to connect with users and two beams for gateways, you have 5,000 beams that you can do anything with. So, there is no longer a concept of a user and a gateway.” – Ryan Reid

From a hardware perspective, it’s almost like the evolution from a console television – for those of your readers older enough to remember those – to a flat panel television. You have the same functionality as the console television, but you have so much more flexibility and capability in a much smaller package.

The 702X architecture is analogous to going from that console television to the flat panel. It mimics that evolution.

GSR: What types of advanced services, capabilities, and applications could mPOWER enable for the military and government? What use cases do these organizations have for high throughput, low latency connectivity at the tactical edge?

Ryan Reid: Having the satellite constellation at MEO significantly reduces the latency. And that lower latency provides a network and connectivity that operates much like a terrestrial network. So, operating at MEO is a key enabler of many technologies and applications that require high throughputs and low latencies, even at the tactical edge.

The O3b mPOWER satellites have access to the complete 2.5 GHZ of commercial Ka-band spectrum. So, to a military or government user, these satellites can be used to deliver resilient backhaul for a localized network that is accessible to deployed forces or tactical operators. This gives them incredible flexibility to enable connectivity and access to advanced capabilities for mobile users that may not have access to terrestrial networks. It’s also flexible, so it can deliver agility on the fly for tactical requirements. They can allow users to quickly meet shifting connectivity requirements for missions, even if those missions didn’t have well-forecasted locations.

What can military and government users do with that connectivity? They certainly can use it for ISR platforms and missions.

“O3b mPOWER could enable a localized network that could enable that data to be exfiltrated in real-time and pushed to forward operating forces to ensure they have the most up-to-date data.” – Ryan Reid

One of the notable features of the O3b mPOWER design is that it has symmetric forward and return links. That gives it a great ability to backhaul data off of ISR platforms, even if those ISR platforms are highly mobile because it gives the user the ability to create coverage over a large geographic area on the fly, utilizing software.

This is something similar to what we see with the cruise ship market. Think of cruise ships as very large, easy-target ISR platforms. When cruise passengers get back on the ship from their excursions, they want to upload photos, share videos, and communicate with friends and loved ones. That creates a large return link demand which is not typically seen in networks, which are usually very forward-link driven – getting information out to people. The symmetry of the forward and return link that’s inherent in O3b mPOWER can be exploited to empower a bubble of data exfiltration.

The military may not be looking to upload tourism photos, but they would be looking to transmit large intelligence files – including HD videos and images. O3b mPOWER could enable a localized network that could enable that data to be exfiltrated in real-time and pushed to forward operating forces to ensure they have the most up-to-date data.

Another example would be morale, welfare, and recreation (MWR) services. Currently, with limited bandwidth available to them, the military has to make difficult, strategic decisions about what travels across their satellite networks. MWR data and capabilities that could enable a higher quality of life for the warfighter – such as entertainment and communications services – often need to be sacrificed for more mission-critical systems.

The scale of communication that O3b mPOWER enables opens the door for new use cases that the military may never have considered delivering at the tactical edge in their traditional, connectivity-constrained environment. O3b mPOWER is enabling ubiquitous broadband connectivity in theater, and the use cases for that are almost limitless.

For additional information about how Ob3 mPOWER can enable next-generation technologies on the battlefield, click HERE to download a complimentary copy of the whitepaper, “High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications.”

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As devices have gotten more powerful, they’ve also gotten smaller. Today, the processing power of the IBM computer from the movie, “Hidden Figures,” is dwarfed by devices that fit into our pockets. In the movie, that IBM computer hilariously required the installation of a larger door to be moved into its dedicated room. Now, we accidentally put computers that are unfathomably more powerful in our washing machines because we forget they were in our favorite jeans.

But is this movement towards smaller, more powerful devices limited to computers and the IT industry? Or is it bleeding into other industries? What about the space and satellite industry? News coming out of the satellite industry seems to indicate that smaller could be the future.

There is immense innovation happening in the satellite and space industries, and the traditional path into space and satellites are changing. The next generation of satellites may be smaller. They may orbit closer to the Earth, be capable of being repaired in space and may host payloads from multiple different organizations.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the news from the industry that lays out some of these fascinating trends:

Big Aerospace Goes Big on Smallsats
If the future of satellites and space is to get bigger, then some of the industry’s heavyweights may have just made some terrible strategic decisions. That’s because – in light of flat or declining orders for large GEO satellites – practically every large satellite manufacturer is making investments into the production of smaller satellites and satellites for MEO and LEO orbits.

According to this article from Via Satellite, some of the largest satellite manufacturers – including SSL and Boeing – have recently made acquisitions or strategic partnerships to position themselves to better complete in the smallsat marketplace. These decisions weren’t made arbitrarily, they’re the result of ordering and industry trends. Many of the commercial satellite companies are seeing significant potential for smaller satellites in LEO and MEO, and are scaling back their large GEO satellite investments.

So, will the next generation of satellites fit in your pocket and risk taking a bath in your spin cycle? Probably not, they’ll still be pretty large and heavy. But they’re trending smaller, and that’s probably a step in the right direction. But that’s not the only change for satellite manufacturing on the horizon…

NASA Hires SSL to Research Satellite Manufacturing in Space
Launching satellites can cause some problems. It restricts how large some of the components can be, since they need to fit in a rocket. It also increases the risk to getting a satellite on orbit, creates wear and tear on the satellite, costs a ton of money and creates other restrictions.

So…what if we just stopped launching our satellites into space already built, and – instead – built them right up there in space?

Stop laughing. It’s (potentially) a perfectly reasonable idea. At least, that’s what NASA thinks. It’s also what our good friend Gordon Roesler thought when we spoke to him about the future of on-orbit servicing.

According to recent news articles, NASA has hired SSL to explore the concept, which would ultimately eliminate the restrictions of launching satellites by building them in habitats in space. The concept would enable “more simple and capable” satellites that don’t need to built to survive launch, which can be pretty tough on a satellite. This main sound like science fiction…but it’s real. We promise.

So, the satellites of the future may be smaller and be built in space. But what about the satellites being built now? How have those changed and evolved? Well…they may contain payloads from multiple, disparate organizations.

Air Force wants new GPS in orbit before year’s end
One of the largest and most impactful challenges facing the DoD is the threat to our satellite infrastructure. Our adversaries are more advanced than ever, and are capable of denying our satellite capabilities. Unfortunately, we rely on those a lot. Especially in the areas of position, navigation and timing (PNT), for which the military relies on GPS.

To help combat the susceptibility of our GPS satellite network, the Air Force and the rest of the DoD is scrambling to get a PNT alternative in place. This need and requirement to get a PNT alternative in place quickly makes it a perfect example of a capability or technology that could be a candidate to be launched as a hosted payload.

The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently released a report on hosted payloads. That report encourages the DoD to more aggressively incorporate hosted payloads into their future satellite programs for a few reasons:

• They’re less expensive
• They provide a much faster and efficient path to space
• They deliver benefits in the area of resiliency

Those are all things that the military’s PNT satellite network could potentially benefit from.

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However, a lot more goes into bringing satellite connectivity to all corners of the globe than many people know. There is infrastructure that needs to be in place for satellite communications to be possible. That infrastructure needs to get there somehow – and it needs to be set up by someone.

One of the people responsible for that difficult work is Gary Boyle, the VP of Service Product Line Management at SES, who oversees the work of the SES Networks Global Services Team. Gary recently penned an incredible article for SES about the team’s mission, why it’s important and why it’s so difficult. Here is an excerpt of what Gary wrote:

<To read Gary’s article in its entirety, click HERE.>

Perhaps the most incredible thing about satellite is that it can reach places traditional fiber can’t touch. From the middle of the Amazon to a disaster-relief mission in Puerto Rico to a war zone in South Sudan. But bringing satellite communications to these remote places can be a significant challenge.

Most of these locations are not optimal for hosting the communications equipment necessary to leverage satellite. Regardless of how remote or inhospitable the location, a team needs to go in to prepare the site, install the equipment, set up the service and make sure the infrastructure is running smoothly. And this is where the SES Global Services team comes into play.

Global Services is the on-the ground team that physically prepares, ships and deploys equipment at a given customer site. The organization has four distinct, yet highly integrated parts: our field team (on-site deployment), our staging team (system preparation), our logistics team (procurement, shipment and delivery) and our partner management team (coordination of local partner organizations).

In addition, we have an incredible extended team, including those who help bring the system online, such as our network operations team, and those who conduct remote trouble shooting and provide 24/7 help desk support for the life of the service.

Global Services’ mission is to make sure the deployment is fast, smooth and successful… and on the first attempt. Second chances are not an option given the sophistication of the system, the complexity of the environment and the enormity of the customers’ objectives. This is no small feat.

Just think about the logistics of getting the equipment where it’s supposed to go, let alone deployment. Once the equipment is staged at our Washington DC facility, it’s then shipped as close as possible to the deployment site. But an airport could be hours and miles of treacherous landscape away from the final destination. That could mean enlisting the help of anything from all-terrain vehicles to canoes in order to go the distance.

But the work doesn’t stop once the deployment is in place. The SES Global Services team then needs to train the customer and get them up and running on our managed services. That’s when the magic happens – watching them realize the newfound freedom and opportunity to communicate in an entirely new way, which is what really gets us excited.

I think about a recent project for a school in Colombia – thanks to satellite, those kids now enjoy connectivity that will enable e-learning and provide exposure to so many new opportunities that wouldn’t have otherwise been accessible to them. It’s helping them find their Heart of Opportunity.

The Global Services team is a dedicated group of practical, creative service professionals using satellite to make seemingly-impossible missions possible. We will stop at nothing to get the job done and help our customers and their end users connect with each other and the rest of the world – to help them unleash their limitless potential.

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We believe one of the reasons for this excitement is innovation in space. New technologies are being introduced that are opening up new orbits for satellites. And those new orbits, new technologies and new satellite constellations that they’re enabling have the potential to offer some truly revolutionary things to the masses – including to those in the federal government.

What types of things? What about ubiquitous, high bandwidth, low latency connectivity to practically anywhere on the planet? How about satellites that can be refueled and repaired so they can deliver these services for decades? These are just some of the exciting and revolutionary things we’re reading about in the space and satellite news lately. Let’s take a look:

SES Networks CEO Outlines Vision to Attack New Markets
With Steve Collar taking over the helm of SES, someone had to step up to take the reigns as the new CEO of SES Networks – and that man is John-Paul Hemingway. For those that aren’t familiar with SES Networks, it’s the new name for O3b, which went from having SES as an investor to being purchased by the company.

In this very interesting and in-depth Q&A interview with the folks at Via Satellite, Paul talks about his new role and some of the major opportunities and challenges that are awaiting him as CEO of what is one of the most exciting and innovative satellite providers on the planet. And one of the most interesting opportunities involves satellite breaking out from the aviation and maritime space and becoming more “mainstream.”

How and why is this happening? Much of it has to do with the world’s fascination with the tiny little computers in their pockets and our demand that they always be working at all times. Telecoms are hearing the call for more bandwidth in more places, and they’re turning to SES Networks for the mobile backhaul necessary to make that a possibility.

Read the full article at the link above to learn more about the increasing “mainstream” reliance on satellite in the telecom industry, and what this can mean for the satellite industry. But if you think that the increased demand for satellite is just coming from the maritime, aviation and (now) telecom industry, you’d be mistaken…

U.S. Government Stands to benefit from Next-Generation MEO fleet beginning 2021
There are other organizations that have individuals stationed in every corner of the globe that need to ensure that they can access the IT services, capabilities and solutions that they need to do their jobs – and that’s modern governments.

In this bylined article, the CEO of SES Space and Defense, Pete Hoene, looks at the pending launch of new MEO satellites in the near future, and what the resulting constellation can deliver for the U.S. government and military. No surprise, it’s very much consistent with what other global governments and military organizations can gain from the newly bolstered MEO constellation – fiber-like connectivity and bandwidth to practically anywhere on the globe.

With military and government organizations increasingly relying on IT services and capabilities to accomplish their missions, the need to ensure ubiquitous coverage is immense. The MEO constellation that’s currently under construction at SES has the potential to deliver that coverage and ensure that all military and government personnel have the access and connectivity they need to do their jobs.

Now if only there was some way to ensure that the satellites these individuals relied on could stay in orbit and function for a really long time…

The Time For On-Orbit Satellite Servicing is Here
In this really in-depth and exciting feature article on on-orbit servicing, they look at the future of the industry and why it’s suddenly starting to gain a lot of traction.

What is on-orbit servicing? It’s exactly what it sounds like – the refueling and repair of satellites that are currently launched and on-orbit around the Earth. Why is it so important? Well, satellites are huge investments. It costs hundreds of millions to build them, test them, launch them and operate them. So, launching them into space with no real way to fix them should they break – or refuel them when they’re running on “E” – has always been a problem for the satellite industry.

Think of it like your car. You spend a good chunk of change buying a shiny new automobile. Do you junk it when the brakes or tires need to get replaced? No, you pay a service station to replace the brakes or tires so that you can continue to get a return on your initial investment. On-orbit servicing will allow something similar, but with satellites that are literally floating in space.

The article at the link above does a very good job of looking at the circumstances that are making satellite servicing a possibility today, and does an equally good job of laying out where we are in the process, and how far away we are from actually repairing satellites in space. Check it out!

The post New constellations and orbits put satellite center stage – a look at the top satellite news appeared first on SES Space and Defense.

Unfortunately, the Government Satellite Report wasn’t able to attend. However, we did have the opportunity to sit around the table with three members of the SES Space and Defense team that were in attendance at this year’s event.

Those experts included:

• Tim Deaver, Corporate Vice President of Development at SES Space and Defense
• Jeff Rowlison, Vice President of Government Affairs at SES Space and Defense
• Will Tong, Vice President of Sales at SES Space and Defense

During our time together, we discussed the major trends and topics that dominated discussion at this year’s show, we touched on the major challenges that are concerning the military in the space domain, and talked about the role that COMSATCOM is going to play in MILSATCOM into the future.

It’s rare that we get some many savvy satellite minds to ourselves, in one place and at one time, so we used the opportunity to record our discussion for a very special episode of the Government Satellite Report Radio podcast series.

Here is what these gentlemen had to say:

According to our guests, some of the hottest topics at Global MILSATCOM 2017 included HTS and MEO satellite constellations. For additional information of these solutions, download the following resources:

• High Throughput on the High Seas
• White Paper: Satellite Evolution Sparks a Service Revolution
• High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications
• White Paper On O3b “Fiber Like” Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications

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No matter where I travel – London, Cape Town, Sao Paolo or New York City — I expect that when I walk into a well-known chain of coffee shops, I’m guaranteed to get a WiFi connection and the same great tasting, freshly brewed Grande Cappuccino that I am used to.

The further afield I travel, the more remote and challenging the places I go to, and why shouldn’t I expect the same experience?

At SES Networks, we are committed to bringing every customer into the heart of digital opportunity. Whether it’s applied to coffee or connectivity, trusted end-to-end quality is crucial to consistently delivering an experience that meets customer expectations across markets, applications and geographies.

For any service provider or business, meeting customer product and service quality expectations is paramount to continued success. This fact drove SES Networks to seek ground-breaking MEF-certification of satellite services and successfully passed the MEF 2.0 certification (MEF CE 2.0). This guarantees our customers will have fiber equivalent connectivity that consistently delivers an unrivaled, ubiquitous quality of digital experience even in the most remote areas on the planet.

Whilst MEF C2.0 is not new to the Telecoms industry, and is a very well-recognized “stamp of quality” to the well-connected world, what SES Networks adds to the equation is the application of this standard on a truly global basis. This first-time award to a satellite-enabled data service provider truly validates that SES Networks’ unique Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite-based Ethernet Private Line, E-LAN, E-Access and E-Transit services perform equal to that of terrestrial fiber services.

MEF certification increases the confidence of Telecom Operators and Enterprise IT Organizations that their fixed and mobile services will meet the most stringent functional and performance requirements. Whether you are connecting from remote islands, developing countries, land, sea or air – you can expect the same level of Ethernet service, interconnectivity and interoperability across terrestrial and SES Network’s satellite based infrastructure.

SES Networks’ certification work with MEF is only one of several initiatives our company is undertaking to seamlessly scale cloud network solutions across the globe. Software defined networking (SDN) techniques also play a key role in uniquely equipping SES Networks’ ecosystem with the flexibility to shape, moderate, route, and switch satellite connectivity in a truly dynamic manner. Adding application visibility, analytics and intelligence also enables smart utilization of our truly global assets of MEO and Geostationary (GEO) satellites alongside terrestrial based infrastructure.

With spending on cloud-based applications expected to grow at a five-year CAGR of approximately 15-20%, SES Networks is also working within the MEF’s new frameworks to evolve agile, assured, orchestrated network standards and services to dynamically scale our global cloud networks.

The satellite industry must evolve and be a standard, orchestrated and integral part of the global, cloud scale connected network ecosystem.

Now, can I get a broadband connection and a great cup of coffee in Fernando di Noronia, Brazil? If there is an SES Networks CE2.0 service behind you, you bet.

For additional information on HTS and MEO satellites and their uses for federal government and military operations, download the following resources:

• White Paper: Satellite Evolution Sparks a Service Revolution
• High Throughput Satellites for U.S. Government Applications
• White Paper On O3b “Fiber Like” Satellite Communications for U.S. Government Applications

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