Next Generation Space Defense
March 2021
Cover image is courtesy of
iDirect Government
PUBLISHING OPERATIONS
SENIOR COLUMNISTS
Silvano Payne, Publisher + Executive Writer
Chris Forrester, Broadgate Publications
Simon Payne, Chief Technical Officer
Karl Fuchs, iDirect Government Services
Hartley G. Lesser, Editorial Director
Bob Gough, Goonhilly Earth Station
Pattie Lesser, Executive Editor
Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch, Inmarsat
Donald McGee, Production Manager
Ken Peterman, Viasat
Teresa Sanderson, Operations Director
Giles Peeters, Track24 Defence
Sean Payne, Business Development Director
Koen Willems, Newtec
Dan Makinster, Technical Advisor
Mike Young, Envistacom
TABLE OF CONTENTS
THIS ISSUE’S AUTHORS
Warren Ackerly
Charlie Kawasaki
Rick Lober
Ryan Schradin
Nate White
ADVERTISER INDEX
Advantech Wireless Technologies, Inc. .......................Cover + Page 3
Dispatches
UK Space Agency + Inmarsat ..........................................4
AirBorn Inc. ........................................................................................9
Arianespace + Avio..........................................................4
NSR..................................................................................6
AvL Technologies .............................................................................13
USSF + SMC.....................................................................6
Rocket Lab .......................................................................8
Blue52 Productions ..........................................................................33
Cubic Corporation + Nuvotronics..................................10
MilSat Symposium .........................................................11
CPI Satcom Products........................................................................27
Advantech Wireless .......................................................12
Spaceflight Inc. ..............................................................14
iDirect Government .........................................................................11
SpacePath Communications...........................................27
.................................................................................................
RADEUS LABS....................................................................................7
Features
COMMAND CENTER: Dr. Derek Tournear,
Director, Space Development Agency
SatNews Digital or MilSat Symposium ............................................29
14
Modular, Open Standards For SATCOM Network—The Benefits....30
For U.S. + Allied Forces
Author: Rick Lober, Defense & Intelligence Systems Division,
Hughes Network Systems
SpaceBridge .......................................................................................5
The Evolution Of End-To-End Communications Service Providers...34
Author: Nate White, VP + GM, Operating Unit, Peraton
The SATCOM Failsafe For Border Security ......................................36
Author: Warren Ackerly, Business Development Manager, Paradigm
Taking The Tactical Cloud With You… ..............................................40
Author: Charlie Kawasaki, Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions
Government Satellite Report: .........................................................44
DoD Doubles Down On MEO Satellites
Author: Ryan Schradin, Executive Editor, GSR (SES-GS)
Space Surveillance Telescope To Assist in Space Domain Awareness .....46
+
Keeping Track Of Space Debris .......................................................51
Author: USSF’s Space & Missiles Systems Center
Background image is courtesy of U.S. Space Force’s (USSF)
Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) and is a photo of the
recent, experimental Terrier-Terrier-Oriole (TTO) Sounding
Rocket launch from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility (WFF).
MilsatMagazine
Page 2
MilsatMagazine is published 11 times a year by Satnews Publishers,
800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, CA, 95476 — USA.
Phone: (707) 939-9306 / Fax: (707) 939-9235
© 2021 Satnews Publishers
We reserve the right to edit all submitted materials to meet publication
content guidelines, as well as for grammar and spelling errors, or to
move articles to an alternative issue to accommodate publication space
requirements, or remove content due to space restrictions or
unacceptable content. Submission of articles does not constitute
acceptance of said material by Satnews Publishers. Edited materials may,
or may not, be returned to author and/or company for review prior to
publication. The views expressed in Satnews Publishers’ various
publications do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Satnews
Publishers. All rights reserved. All included imagery is courtesy of, and
copyright to, the respective companies and/or named individuals.
March 2021
Dispatches
Inmarsat To Develop On-Orbit Telemetry
Relay Service For UK Space Agency
Nick Shave, Vice President of Strategic Programs at Inmarsat Global
Government, said, “Inmarsat’s highly robust L-band satellite network is
ideal to provide telemetry services for launch providers globally. The space
launch market is an exciting new sector for our network and team to work
on. This innovative project will allow us to solve problems and create
efficiencies in the design of a reliable and secure telemetry solution for
launch service providers and launch site operators.”
Yasrine Ibnyahya, Senior Director of Advanced Concepts and
Technologies at Inmarsat, added, “Inmarsat remains dedicated to
supporting launch vehicle innovation by enabling new launch trajectories
from anywhere in the world while reducing dependencies on ground
networks.”
Iwao Igarashi, VP and GM of Business Development, Space Systems at
MHI, noted, “MHI is delighted to work on this innovative project with
Inmarsat, Safran Data Systems and Haigh-Farr Inc. We hope that this
project will promote further collaborations between UK and Japan in the
The UK Space Agency has awarded a National Space Innovation
space development industry.”
Program (NSIP) contract to Inmarsat to
develop an on-orbit telemetry relay service for rockets
Arianespace Signs Avio For
10-Vega C Launcher Builds
called “InRange.”
Arianespace has signed an agreement with Avio, prime
contractor for the Vega and Vega C launchers, to start
production of a batch of ten new Vega C rockets, to be
launched starting in 2023.
The agreement was signed in Rome on March 19, 2021, by Stéphane
Inmarsat’s InRange service will reduce the dependency of space launch
Israël, CEO of Arianespace, and Giulio Ranzo, CEO of Avio, during a
providers on traditional, expensive ground-based monitoring systems
meeting between Bruno Le Maire, French Minister of the Economy,
infrastructure for their rockets and will
Finance and Recovery, and Giancarlo Giorgetti, Italian Minister of
provide a more cost-effective, flexible
Economic Development.
Vega C launchers produced within Batch 4 will serve institutional and
solution, available globally via
Inmarsat’s geostationary L-band
commercial missions from 2023 onwards; in particular, they will
satellite network.
contribute to the fulfillment of strategic objectives selected by European
institutions, either collectively through ESA and the European
Inmarsat is working with Japan’s
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries
(MHI) to ensure the InRange service
develops to meet the challenging
environmental conditions experienced
by launch vehicles. Safran Data
Mitsubishi’s H3
Heavy Lifter
rocket.
Commission, or for national purposes. Therefore, 2021 will see
Arianespace contracted for launch services for the next nine Copernicus
satellites within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2021-2027 of the
European Commission.
Vega C is a new-generation light launcher, perfectly suited to the launch
Systems (France) and Haigh-Farr
of both commercial and government payloads. Because of its high
Inc. (USA) are also partners in this
performance and versatility, Arianespace provides the best possible
project and focus on the L-band
solution to orbit small and medium spacecraft into a wide range of orbits
transmitter and antenna design.
(Sun-synchronous, ballistic, transfer to the Lagrange point L1, etc.), for
This contract is valued at
Earth Observation (EO), science, education, defense and other
£258,000, with matched funding
applications. With Vega C, Arianespace will offer enhanced performance
from industry taking the project total
and greater payload volume for future customers at the same price as for
to £422,096.
launches by Vega.
MilsatMagazine
Page 4
March 2021
CONNECTING OUR MILITARY
TO ITS MISSIONS
Tactical , BLoS
HTS System
For over 30 years,
SpaceBridge has striven to
provide C4I over SATCOM connectivity
by being an innovator, leader, and trusted provider
of bold tactical solutions in the military ground segment
Satellite technologies.
We live on the cutting edge of what’s possible, challenging
ourselves to provide products and services that rise to the
occasion. In a world of mounting unconventional threats,
there is no room for failure or compromise.
We are dedicated to the exploration and implementation of
new communication technologies that provide our armed
forces with ultra high-performance satellite connectivity
products that boast the best security, and highest availability.
Recognized by major players such DISA, SpaceBridge will
continue to offer high-throughput solutions at exceptional value.
Contact us today to learn how we can connect you to your
beyond line of sight missions.
SpaceBridge.com | info@SpaceBridge.com | +1.514.420.0045
USA | CANADA | LATAM | BRAZIL | EMEA | APAC
Dispatches
“Arianespace is delighted to have signed this agreement with our long-
a proliferated, distributed, serialized technology stack. Software-defined
standing partner Avio, confirming the ramp-up of Vega C, in particular to
and software-centric, mass-produced, and a network-of-networks are
meet European government requirements,” said Israël. “Through this long-
proliferating across all segments of the Space Economy.”
From mass-produced LEO-based satellites, to the growing “___ as-a-
term supply, Arianespace kicks off its order for a fourth batch of Vega
launchers, the first comprising only upgraded Vega C launchers. A number
service” business models in the Space & Satellite Applications segment, the
of European Earth observation and science programs, most notably
sector is in a period of fundamental transformation.
Copernicus, will fully benefit from the greater competitiveness of Vega C.
This commercialization of space is unlocking new use-cases, new end-
More than ever, Vega is establishing its role as the second pillar of Europe’s
users, and overall driving a $1 trillion opportunity.
space access capabilities, along with Ariane.”
Ranging from science and technology missions where
Ranzo commented, “We are delighted to receive a new batch order for
space agencies are a ‘customer amongst many’ to
Vega C, which confirms Arianespace’s customers’ interest and trust in the
terrestrially-competitive satellite internet services, the
new launcher product, which is the result of an effective cooperation
Space Economy is on the cusp of significant growth.
The Space Economy transformation is well underway,
among several European industries under Avio’s leadership.”
Author: Brad Grady,
NSR Principal Analyst
but connectivity remains the core revenue driver.
Market Revenues Of $1 Trillion Plus
For Space + Satellite Markets…
An NSR Report
Experimental Research Rocket Launched
By USSF + SMC From Wallops
The U.S. Space Force
(USSF) and the Space
and Missile Systems
Center (SMC)’s Launch
Enterprise (PDF)
successfully propelled an
experimental research
payload for the Air Force
Research Laboratory
(AFRL) aboard a TerrierTerrier-Oriole (TTO)
Sounding Rocket from
The new NSR Global Space Economy report finds a
NASA’s Wallops Flight
cumulative space and satellite market revenue opportunity of
Facility (WFF) in Virginia
more than $1 trillion between 2019 and 2029.
early on March 3, 2021.
There is an expanding need for space-based services to satisfy needs in
The successful mission was
orbit and on earth fueled by expanding requirements for everything from
full of many firsts for SMC’s
space-enabled Big Data Analytics missions, to commercial crew missions
Small Launch and Targets
to the ISS, to “classical” connectivity use-cases.
Division. This was the first
While there is a developing space-based, space-consumed economy
USSF small launch mission for
Photo of a Talos Terrier Oriole
sounding rocket launch, courtesy of NASA.
underway; building connectivity services for Earth-based needs still
2021, the first AFRL dedicated partnership launch from WFF, the first
dominates the market landscape. Either in direct connectivity for
sounding rocket launch under the Sounding Rocket Program-4
broadband access or mobility markets or building/launching
(NSROC) contract, and the first USSF sounding rocket launch with
communications satellites; connectivity-focused use-cases dominate the
Space Vector Corporation.
The TTO vehicle was built by Space Vector, a small business, and
NSR Global Space Economy revenue picture.
“Classical/traditional connectivity requirements are the largest revenue
source for the NSR Global Space Economy analysis,” said report author
and NSR Principal Analyst Brad Grady. “Right now, the entire sector is in
a period of transformation – from largely complex, bespoke technology to
MilsatMagazine
Kratos Space and Missile Defense who were responsible for the
integration, interface and mission planning for the launch.
“This mission is a great example of the innovation in SMC contracting
and using Small Launch contracts to expand our capability and provide
Page 6
March 2021
Radeus Labs
8200 Legacy ACU
The Only Tool
You'll Need.
Installation is that simple.
The Radeus Labs 8200 Legacy ACU
is the ideal drop-in replacement for
ageing 7200 systems.
§ No hidden costs
§ Easy Installation
§ Quality without compromise
Full systems are available for all makes
of antennas. Visit us at Radeuslabs.com
to find your state of the art antenna
control solution today!
Contact us today for a site visit!
Contact Us
SALES
(858) 602-1255 | Sales@RadeusLabs.com | Radeuslabs.com
(858) 391-1210 • 12720 Danielson Court • Poway, CA 92064 USA
radeus
labs, inc.
Dispatches
Photo of a Talos Terrier Oriole sounding rocket launch, courtesy of NASA.
support in launching experimental missions,” stated Lt. Col. Ryan Rose,
Chief of the Launch Enterprise’s Small Launch and Targets Division and
Mission Director for this launch.
“Congratulations to the entire government and industry team on
successfully executing this important mission, and launching in only 16
months from contract award during the challenging conditions presented
this past year.”
They Go Up So Fast… Rocket Lab’s Six
Smallsat Launch Success — Including
One For The US Army
Rocket Lab has successfully launched their 19th Electron
mission and deployed six spacecraft to orbit for a range of
deploying an EO satellite for BlackSky Global through Spaceflight Inc.;
government and commercial customers.
The mission, named ‘They Go Up So Fast,’ also deployed Rocket Lab’s
two Internet of Things (IoT) smallsats for Australian commercial operators
latest in-house manufactured Photon spacecraft to build flight heritage
Fleet Space and Myriota; a test satellite built by the University of
ahead of the upcoming CAPSTONE mission to the Moon
New South Wales (UNSW) Canberra Space in collaboration with
for NASA.
The mission launched from Rocket Lab Launch Complex 1 on New
Zealand’s Mahia Peninsula at 22:30, March 22, 2021 UTC, successfully
Rocket Lab’s Launch Complex 1 in New Zealand.
MilsatMagazine
Page 8
March 2021
Dispatches
the Royal Australian Air Force; a weather monitoring cubesat for
Rocket Lab kick stage,
Care Weather Technologies; and a technology demonstrator for the
with the four silver
U.S. Army’s Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC). The
spheres of the new
mission took the total number of satellites deployed to orbit by Rocket Lab
Curie engine seen in
to 104.
the middle. Image is
After Electron successfully launched to an initial 550 km circular orbit,
courtesy of the
the rocket’s integrated space tug or Kick Stage deployed the first five
company.
satellites to their individual orbits.
Following the
The kick stage is a powerful extra stage on Rocket Lab’s Electron launch
vehicle, designed to circularize the orbits of smallsats, taking them exactly
where they need to go — image is courtesy of Rocket Lab.
The Kick Stage’s Curie
deployment of the
Rocket Lab kick stage, with the four silver spheres of the
new Curie engine seen in the middle. Image is courtesy
of the company.
engine was then
final customer
payload on this
mission the Kick Stage
was reconfigured to
reignited to lower its
Photon, Rocket Lab’s in-house built spacecraft. Photon Pathstone is
altitude and deploy the
equipped with new power management, thermal control and attitude
final small satellite to a
control subsystems that will be used for the CAPSTONE mission to the
450 km circular orbit.
Moon for NASA later this year. Photon Pathstone is also testing on-orbit
With its relightable
new deep-space radio capability, an upgraded RCS (reaction control
Curie engine, the Kick
system), as well as sun sensors and star trackers.
Stage is unique in its
capability to deploy
multiple satellites to
different orbits on the same small launch vehicle.
Cable & Flexible Circuit
Assemblies: We Do Both!
•
Consult, design, and build
•
Impartial advice on best option for you: cables or flex
•
Wide range of types and capabilities
•
With or without AirBorn content
Let’s get to work. Contact one of our experienced Solution Engineers today!
a i r b o r n . c o m
MilsatMagazine
Page 9
March 2021
Dispatches
the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command (CCDC)
C5ISR Center and Space and Terrestrial Communications
Directorate (S&TCD).
Nuvotronics will deliver a high-altitude balloon (HAB) payload solution
to support WGS surrogate operations, intended to provide contingency
communication support during “a day without SATCOM” scenarios.
Nuvotronics’ HAB payload solution will support Ka-Band SATCOM for
beyond line of sight (BLOS) communications between Division, Brigade,
Battalion and Company echelons during electronic or kinetic attacks.
During electronic or kinetic attack, SATCOM accessibility may be denied,
which creates a need for the Army to have access to alternative
capabilities that can effectively restore tactical communications and
operate in denied environments.
Nuvotronics’ HAB surrogate payload solution will introduce key
Rocket Lab’s Photon rocket engine. Image is courtesy of the company.
innovations based on proven technology and processes, including its
unique and innovative additive manufacturing process called PolyStrata®
Rocket Lab founder and CEO, Peter Beck, said,
which enables radio frequency component size reductions from 10x to
“Congratulations and welcome to orbit for all of our
100x. PolyStrata also significantly improves radio frequency performance,
customers on Electron. Reaching more than 100
which will allow Nuvotronics to meet more stringent requirements that
satellites deployed is an incredible achievement for our
would not otherwise be possible.
“Cubic has a long history of developing innovative solutions that address
team and I’m proud of their tireless efforts which have
network availability and resiliency in challenged environments for our
made Electron the second most frequently launched
U.S. rocket annually. Today’s mission was a flawless
Peter Beck
warfighters,” said Mike Knowles, president of Cubic Mission and
demonstration of how Electron has changed the way
Performance Solutions. “With our award-winning Nuvotronics technology,
space is accessed. Not only did we deploy six customer satellites, but we
we are able to provide a viable surrogate payload solution with a true size,
also deployed our own pathfinding spacecraft to orbit in preparation for
weight and power (SWaP) advantage.”
“We are very pleased to collaborate with the CCDC C5ISR Center and
our Moon mission later this year.”
S&TCD to develop a solution that will provide transparent BLOS SATCOM
Note: Details about Rocket Lab’s 20th Electron launch will be announced shortly,
access to existing WGS Ka-Band ground terminals within a region that has
with the next mission scheduled to take place from Launch Complex 1 within the
been denied access to on-orbit WGS resources,” said Martin Amen, vice
next few weeks.
president and general manager of Cubic Nuvotronics.
The U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command, known as DEVCOM, is
Cubic’s Nuvotronics To Develop HAB To
Support WGS-SP For The US Army
the Army’s technology leader and largest technology developer. DEVCOM ensures the
dominance of Army capabilities by creating, integrating and delivering technologyenabled solutions to our Soldiers. The command provides the Army with an organic
research and development capability. More than 13,700 Soldiers, civilian employees
and direct contractors form this world-class team. As part of that team, there are more
than 10,000 engineers and scientists, many of whom are the Army’s leading experts in
their fields. The fundamental characteristic of the DEVCOM workforce is the focus on
the Soldier. DEVCOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Futures
Command, which assesses and integrates the future operational environment,
emerging threats, and technologies to develop and deliver concepts, requirements,
future force designs and the delivery of modernization solutions.
Cubic Corporation (NYSE:CUB) has announced Nuvotronics,
which operates within the company’s Cubic Mission and
Performance Solutions (CMPS) business division, was awarded
a contract worth approximately $5 million to develop a
Wideband Global Satellite Surrogate Payload (WGS-SP) for
MilsatMagazine
Page 10
March 2021
Dispatches
Upcoming MilSat Symposium To Launch
Into Next-Generation Space Defense —
June 1 Thru 3
Space operations have a critical role in interconnecting the services and an
increasing role in the defense of space assets.
The MilSat Symposium fosters discussion on these new and developing
connections while addressing the technological, logistical and financial
understandings that are required to build next-generation space defense.
2021.milsatshow.com
As space technology proliferates worldwide, the Department
of Defense (DoD) has more choices
regarding the rapid development and
deployment of next-generation space
defense technologies.
At the MilSat Symposium, attendees will hear from
some of the most brilliant minds that are focused on
addressing the technological, logistical and financial
advances needed to create the next epoch of military
space infrastructure. The MilSat Symposium will
present…
•
Keynotes and presentations from
leading military and civilian space
leaders.
•
Expert-led in-depth sessions.
•
Live interaction including Q&A,
one-to-one discussions, and direct
attendee messaging.
•
A thorough briefing on the state of
national space defense.
The MilSat Symposium serves as a bridge between
National Defense Space and Industry. As low cost
space technology proliferates worldwide, DoD has
more choices in the rapid development and
deployment of next-generation space technologies.
MilsatMagazine
Page 11
March 2021
Dispatches
New Taurus SSPAs + BUCs Intro’d By
Advantech Wireless
The LLITED mission is a
grant awarded to The
Aerospace Corporation
through NASA’s Division of
Heliophysics in the Science
Mission Directorate and
was selected for flight by
the agency’s cubesat
Launch Initiative (CSLI). As
a U.S. government direct
procurement, Spaceflight is
Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle (OTV)
the prime contractor to
NASA for the mission and the
launch service is led by
NASA’s Kennedy Space Center Launch Services Program. The LLITED team
includes scientists and engineers from The Aerospace Corporation, EmbryRiddle Aeronautical University, and University of New Hampshire.
Sherpa-LTC: “Go Fast”
Advantech Wireless Technologies has released their new
800W and 1000W X-band Solid State Power Amplifiers and
“Spaceflight’s full-service offering with our portfolio of Sherpa OTVs
Block-Up Converters (SSPAs/BUCs) packaged in its compact
vehicles greatly increases the scientific opportunities for NASA, universities,
Taurus outdoor enclosure.
and other organizations that require deployments to non-traditional orbital
destinations,” said Valerie Skarupa, director of government business
Taurus-X is the perfect solution for MODs engaged in both new
terminal deployments and programs to modernize existing military
development for Spaceflight Inc. “We’ve enjoyed a long relationship with
SATCOM terminals.
NASA, launching nearly 20 spacecraft for the organization over the years,
Advantech has successfully achieved a 65% reduction in weight and
and are focused on helping them get their spacecraft exactly where they
50% reduction in size as compared to earlier models, making Taurus-X the
need to be on orbit. This opportunity is especially rewarding as the award
perfect choice for mobile terminals that must be efficient, compact in size
recognized Spaceflight’s experience with in-space transportation systems.”
In January, Spaceflight successfully deployed 15 spacecraft from its first
and that must exhibit high resilience to shock and vibration.
next-gen OTV (Sherpa-FX) on the record-breaking SpaceX Falcon 9
Transporter-1 launch. Spaceflight is preparing several Sherpas for launch
NASA Contracts Spaceflight For The
Agency’s LLITED Mission
with both electric and chemical propulsion for missions later this year
along with many traditional rideshare and dedicated missions, for a total
of approximately 10 launches in 2021.
The NASA cubesat project, named LLITED, will investigate the equatorial
Spaceflight Inc., the global launch services provider,
temperature and wind anomaly that occurs in the neutral atmosphere, and
announced today it has been awarded a launch service
the equatorial ionization anomaly that occurs in the region containing
contract for the integration and launch of NASA’s LLITED
charged particles.
mission, two 1.5U spacecraft. Spaceflight Inc. will transport
the NASA Low-Latitude Ionosphere/Thermosphere
“Aerospace’s innovative cubesat mission will measure these two features
simultaneously, a major new milestone for on-orbit satellite capability,” said
Enhancements in Density (LLITED) cubesats to LEO on its
Dr. Rebecca Bishop, principal investigator for LLITED. “By observing this
Sherpa-LTC orbital transfer vehicle (OTV) at the end of the
altitude region more closely, scientists will gain a greater understanding of
year aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9.
the degree of change in atmosphere density, which in turn affects the
For this mission, the Sherpa-LTC, which uses chemical propulsion from
amount of drag satellites encounter, as well as reentry rates. Because drag
Benchmark Space Systems, will make its initial spacecraft deployments and
is dependent on atmosphere density, understanding regional changes in
then ignite and maneuver to another orbital destination to deploy the
density can help predict an object’s reentry time and path.”
NASA cubesats.
MilsatMagazine
Page 12
March 2021
CONNECTING YOU TO THE FUTURE
1.35M FIT
FLEXIBLE INTEGRATED TERMINAL
SMALL PACKAGE.
BIG GAIN.
ARSTRAT KA-BAND CERTIFICATION
COMPUTER ASSISTED SATCAP
MANUAL POINTING OR AUTO-AQUISITION
BUILT-IN TUNER & BEACON RECEIVER
TRI-BAND X, KU AND WIDEBAND KA
FEEDS WITH QUICK CHANGE RF KITS
MODULAR & FLEXIBLE
MODEM, BUC & LNB OPTIONS
SCALABLE: 75CM, 98CM & 1.35M
SET-UP BY ONE PERSON IN MINUTES
LIGHTWEIGHT IATA-COMPLIANT
CHECKABLE CASES
avltech.com
avltech.com
COMMAND CENTER
DR. DEREK TOURNEAR
DIRECTOR, SPACE DEVELOPMENT AGENCY,
SMALLSAT SYMPOSIUM 2021 KEYNOTE ADDRESS
Dr. Derek Tournear is currently the Director of
Dr. Tournear previously held leadership roles in industry, most recently
the Space Development Agency, within the
the director for the Harris Space & Intelligence (SIS) research &
Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for
development. SIS was a $2B business focused on providing advanced
Research & Engineering (OUSD(R&E)). SDA
technical solutions addressing the top National Security threats from
will unify and integrate space capability
underwater to outer space.
development and deployment across the
Prior to industry, Dr. Derek Tournear was a Senior Program Manager
department to achieve the DoD space vision
(SNIS-HQE) at the Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity
while reducing overlap and inefficiency. He
(IARPA) in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI). At
previously served as the Assistant Director for
Dr. Derek Tournear
Space, responsible for developing the
space technologies in the Oftfice of Smart Collection.
research and engineering roadmap to address future gaps in the DoD
space architecture.
IARPA, Dr. Tournear served as a senior scientist for space activities and
Prior to IARPA, Dr. Tournear was a Program Manager for the Defense
Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), Tactical Technology Office
and Strategic Technology Office. At DARPA, he initiated and directed a
large portfolio of program, with an emphasis on sensors and space.
MilsatMagazine
Page 14
March 2021
Figure 1.
Dr. Tournear has professional experience at Los Alamos National
I’m excited to talk about the Space Development Agency and what
Laboratory (LANL) managing intelligence and defense programs. During
we have done over the past year and our year term and long term
his time at LANL, he initiated a new field of study in gamma ray optics,
visions. I want to talk about the many products that we’re
and developed sensors for nuclear material detection.
developing and delivering, so SDA is set up to exist and operate
Dr. Tournear has a Ph.D. in physics from Stanford University and a B.S.
almost as a commercial entity within the Defense Department and,
from Purdue University. In 2010 he received an “Outstanding Alumnus”
as such, we are very focused on product delivery. Those products
award from Purdue University and a 2008 DARPA award for “Outstanding
are capabilities that we are giving to the warfighter. (See Figure 1.)
Accomplishments in a Systems Technology Area.” Dr. Tournear is a 2011
recipient of the Secretary of Defense Medal for Exceptional Public Service,
The two products were are primarily focused on are, #1, Beyond-Line-
and a 2012 recipient of the Office of Director of National Intelligence
Of-Sight (BLOS) targeting for time-sensitive targets, or mobile
Award for Exceptional Public Service.
targets… think mobile missile launchers or ships and being able to
The following is a transcript of Dr.
Tournear’s keynote speech that was
delivered at SmallSat Symposium 2021
in February of this year.
detect them, identify them, calculate a firing control solution on those
targets, and then provide those data directly to a weapons system and
do all that from space.
Product #2 is to be able to do that exact same mission as Product #1
except now, instead of mobile missiles and ships, I want to be able to
do that for advanced missiles, so hypersonic glide vehicles and those
types of things. Detect them, track them, calculate a fire control
MilsatMagazine
Page 15
March 2021
Figure 2.
solution and give it to the warfighters. Those are the products that the
customer. What enables innovation is the ability for to go out and look
SDA is focused on delivering for the warfighter in the future. (See
at products that affect a lot of new customers, new bases, and you can
Figure 2.)
have a small win and it’s a big deal for you. For a startup corporation,
for a startup company or a startup entity within the government, a
Now one question — why do we need the SDA to do this, I mean,
we’ve got the U.S. Space Force (USSF), we’ve got a lot of different
small win is a big deal. For a larger entity, it’s not, so you’re going to
be focused on low risk, incremental approaches.
entities and most of you have already talked about this, so I’ll only
touch on it briefly, but all boils down to the innovator’s dilemma.
The SDA is focused on going out there, and going out there a broad
set of customers, our customers are all combatant commanders that
The same thing that affects industry affects government, as well. That
the department feels can execute the mission, make sure we can
is, when you have the large entity that is entrenched with delivering to
provide those capabilities, those products that I previously mentioned.
an existing, entrenched customer, they are primarily focused on
In order to do that, we’re taking a completely different approach. The
delivering those capabilities in a low list, incremental approach. And
approach we’re taking is to stop focusing on high value, low density,
that’s nothing wrong with the large entity, whether that be a large
capabilities by high value, low density satellites and focus on high
corporation that’s been building a product, or rather that be an
density, low value satellites, or focus on proliferation.
organization within the government that is delivering certain products.
So that’s scenario #1. We’re going to provide those products via
However, the key thing to realize is, the innovator dilemma is real. The
proliferation. Hundreds to thousands of satellites that provides us with
innovator’s dilemma simply states that you cannot focus on innovation
the resilience needed and it also provides us with the timely access
at the same time you’re focusing on delivering a product to an existing
needed to deliver those products. (See Figure 3 on the following page.)
MilsatMagazine
Page 16
March 2021
Figure 3.
Scenario #2 is spiral development. One of the key things that is different
How are we going to provide those next two products? We have what
are going to field the capabilities… we’re going to field those products
is known as the National Defense Space Architecture (NDSA). That is
every two years. And each tranche presents new capabilities that
our layered approach to delivering those capabilities. (See Figure 4 on
incrementally improve over the previous set. And we’re going to
the following page.)
continue to build these up, as threats evolve and as technology evolves.
The icon on the right are the actual set of systems — this is a functional
We want to make sure we take technology that is ready to field today
block diagram that talks about how we are going to deliver those
and get that to orbit within two years to provide those new capabilities
capabilities. The backbone is the transport… that’s that blue gray box
to the warfighter. That is different than looking at what is the ultimate
in the middle. That is the mesh network of hundreds of satellites, all
set of requirements that we need to deliver and then develop a
optically interconnected, that provides a low latency data comm
program to build and deliver that set of capabilities and that could
network and also provides connectivity directly down to existing,
require cost growth, it could require schedule growth, all to make sure
tactical beta links.
you hit that given set of requirements.
We’re not fielding new equipment to the user on the ground. We’re
We’re not basing off that… we have spiral development. We’re going
going over their existing tactical beta links from that transport layer.
to field new tranches every two years and just continue to spiral up
those capabilities.
OK, so that’s great. That’s the backbone, that’s how we tie everything
together to make sure I can have high bandwidth, low latency
communications directly to the end-user on the ground. What really
MilsatMagazine
Page 17
March 2021
Figure 4.
makes this powerful is now I can put data onto that network that the
And the Deterrence is the third one, that is our Space Situational
user needs. So the three sensing layers off to the right, those are the
Awareness (SSA) layer. And right now we’re not doing a lot with that
ones that provide the data to that transport layer.
because the Space Force is actually focused a lot on that area to focus
on how they can improve that resiliency and those detection
Number One is Tracking. That is our overhead, persistent infrared tech,
capabilities. Primarily, we looking at cisLunar space, but AFRL (Air
those are the satellites that provide the detection and tracking for the
Force Research Laboratory) has some programs in that, so, we’re just
advanced missile threat. SDA is building those out with the Missile
watching that as part of our Deterrence layer.
Defense Agency (MDA) to make certain we can field that constellation.
The key things is to get all of those data, get it to the Transport layer,
Number Two is Custody. Think of target custody. That is our
so it can be fused and further disseminated out to the tactical edge,
intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) — that is the layer
out to the warfighter. Now a lot of that essentially takes some magic,
that provides the ability to detect and track those mobile targets that
right? That’s what the Battle Management light blue layer is.
I mentioned previously. That is a set of constellation of electro-optical,
a set of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), that can be a set of SIGNIT
All of this onboard processing, all of the real-time algorithms that
satellites. All of those data feed into what we call the Custody layer.
enable this data fusion, automatic target recognition, and network
management, all of that is what we call our Battle Management layer.
This is a mixer of commercial applications and commercial
constellations as well as government owned and operated
And that is a federated layer that runs on all of the satellites, but
constellations. When we’re working with industries to make sure we
primarily the Transport satellites, so that we can do federated
can get commercial data from their commercial imagery satellites onto
processing or cloud processing across all of those satellites to enable
what we call our Custody layer, we can fuse all of those data together.
the ability to do this computation in real-time.
MilsatMagazine
Page 18
March 2021
One other layer is our Navigation layer. Now, Navigation is essentially
does not want to focus on tech development... we want to focus on
for free from Transport. If I have that Transport architecture that has all
capability and product field. (See Figure 5)
of these optical crosslinks and exquisite timing between the satellites,
I can get very precise time and position of the satellite. Then, I can
We’re going to fly a few demos in 2021, but primarily it’s all to show those
send that data down as a Navigation message over those existing
capabilities that we can go from space over existing tactical data links so
Tactical beta links. In essence, people can get a Navigation timing
that we can show we can use commoditized optical crosslinks to talk to
message over their existing comm links from the Transport satellite.
one another, talk to the ground, and also talk to airborne platforms.
That’s what we’re doing for alternative navigation. And then of course
The real capabilities start happening we seal our Tranches. Tranche 0
there’s the Support layer — that is our ground support equipment — that
in FY22, so we’re looking at our first launch in September of 2022,
is our launch and operations — and any special user that we would field
second launch in March of 2023.
— right now, we don’t anticipate any. That would all be handled by the
support layer. That is the ‘how’ we are going to provide those capabilities.
We want to field 30 satellites total in this Tranche. Twenty of those
satellites are Transport satellites. That will show that we can seal this
Now, when would we actually field these capabilities. As I mentioned,
mesh network to show that we can do this computation, we can do the
we’re developing these in tranches. The first set right now, basically last
optical networking and that we can actually communicate to the
year and this year, we’re building up some technology developments,
ground and airborne assets.
primarily working with DARPA and AFRL. Space Development Agency
Figure 5.
MilsatMagazine
Page 19
March 2021
We’ll demonstrate all of that in Tranche 0. We’ll also demonstrate a set
For Tracking, we’re working within the department to say exactly what
of wide field and medium field of view satellites to do the missile
would be funded as part of Tranche 1 for Tracking, but ideally, we would
tracking mission to show we can network those with Transport, we can
have on the order of 47 satellites that would give us enough capabilities
actually calculate fire control solutions based on the data.
for regional persistence to be able to detect advanced missile threats.
All of that makes up the Tranche 0 constellation. Then we’re working
For Custody, we’re working with mission partners to field out their
with mission partners to show we can take Custody, ISR data from their
constellations and get their constellations to plug into Transport to move
satellites via the ground back to Transport to the tactical edge. And
those data. Some of those mission partners are commercial ISR providers.
for Navigation, we’ll also show that we can, in essence, do timing
transfer and calculate the position of those satellites.
Tranche 0 is our immersion Tranche and is essentially the free product,
if you will, that will get people hooked on what we’re selling. It will
We call Tranche 0 our Warfighter Emerging Tranche because it allows
allow them to see the data, understand what proliferated LEO can
people to start to develop their comm ops and their techniques and
provide for their situation and then allow them to start to develop their
procedures to work with these kind of data.
plans around access to those data.
Tranche 1 two years later, now we have hundreds of satellites in the
In Tranche 1, that’s when we have initial warfighting capability. This is
Transport layer. We can actually start to get regional persistence for
our Release 1, if you will. This is when we have enough satellites up
that tactical comm layer and we’ll move that data in and out of theater.
there so we can actually start to provide persistence over a given region
of interest. We can actually start to affect a fight in different regions.
Figure 6.
MilsatMagazine
Page 20
March 2021
Figure 7.
Tranche 2, hundreds more satellites, and now we have global
mission operations center at in North Dakota. We have distributed
persistence, not just regional persistence. That’s our final operating
operations to make sure we have access to talent where we need to
capability. In Tranche 3, that’s when we start to fold in lessons learned
and we can get to those missions in those locations (See Figure 7).
from Tranche 1. We start to pull in new technology that was developed
along the way and then we can start to respond to new Tranches as
Figure 7 shows how busy we’ve been in the last year. It seems like not
they come online.
that long ago, when I was in person at the last smallsat conference
talking about our plans for 2020, and I just want to highlight that we
Tranche 4 and beyond, every two years, new technology gets fielded,
have been successful in hitting all of the milestones and achieving what
more satellites get fielded, and we adjust based on threat and need.
we expected to achieve in 2020, even despite all of the challenges
So, that’s how we operate.
with COVID.
How are we doing this execution-wise? One of the key things that
These are the contracting actions that we’ve taken over the last year
we’ve learned over the year is that you can do quite well with
to make sure that we have all of the pieces moving and actually
distributed operations (See Figure 6 on the preceeding page).
pushing forward delivering these products. Primarily the key thing is
that we’ve executed 11 contracts in 2020 — we received our first
Those are all of the locations where SDA has individuals that are
funding early in February of 2020 and since then we’ve been able
working and operating, helping us to make this happen, so we’re
to execute.
distributed. Our next facility is going to open up some ground and
MilsatMagazine
Page 21
March 2021
Figure
Figure 8. 7.
The key contracts (see Figure 8) that are critical to that Tranche 0
And Tracking, we have two performers there, each delivering four
success. For Transport, we have 20 satellites, 10 on contract from
satellites — L3Harris and SpaceX. As part of our mission team, MDA
Lockheed Martin and YORK Space Systems.
has two satellites and they have L3Harris and Northrop Grumman on
their team.
The Naval Research Laboratory is helping us with Ground. Missions
Systems Engineering and Integration is done by Perspecta. They’re
All of these performers are the ones actually doing the work. At the
helping to make sure all of these pieces and parts come together, as
SDA, we’re in the government, we don’t actually do anything, we try
we have multiple performers with multiple pieces.
to enable the folks that are actually doing the work. This is our
Tranche 0 team and they’re actually building the satellites and
Launch was the most recent contract awarded to SpaceX for two
making it happen.
launches, one in September of 2022 and the second one no later than
March of 2023.
The SDA accomplishments — we did deliver two satellites, nine
months after receiving our initial funding. Those two satellites are at
the bottom of this graphic. This was our holiday card (see Figure 9 on
the following page) — this was a joint mission between DARPA, AFRL
and SDA to build these two satellites.
MilsatMagazine
Page 22
March 2021
Figure 9.
Unfortunately, there was a mishap during payload processing down at
Now let’s talk about some about some of the big impacts we’ve had. I
the Cape, so they were not two of the 143 satellites that were launched
cannot overstate the profundity of the proliferation and final
as part of the SpaceX Transporter 1 mission. But, the good news is,
development of architecture. When this was first pitched, this whole
while they were damaged in payload processing, we will be able to
concept, within the Pentagon, within the department, people looked
repair them and we will be able to launch them on Transporter-2.
at the capabilities that we were planning to be able to provide and
they said, “Who are those satellites to be able to do that?” With that,
We’ve awarded all of the contracts for all of the performers to build out
we looked at their historical model.
Tranche 0 and we are now started to being recognized within the Pentagon
and within the department as really a change agent. People are seeing
The chart (see Figure 10) reveals the hundreds of millions of dollars per
what we are doing and that’s good.
satellite. So, if you want to proliferate hundreds to thousands of these
satellites, there’s no way that’s affordable. I contended at the time that,
no, the price was going to be actually less than $20 million per satellite
and, in fact, it was affordable and I was basing that off what I had seen
in industry to that point and what the commercial providers were able
to do.
As it turns out, you look at our Transport satellite, those 20 satellites
— if you take the average cost of all the NRE (Non-Recurring
Engineering costs) on those 20 satellites — it averages out to $14.1
million. It really shows that, yes, in fact, this is believable and it can be
done at an affordable cost.
Figure 10.
MilsatMagazine
Page 23
March 2021
And as we push forward on cost one, the key thing there is now we’re
That is what is enabling these missions to succeed and that is key. I
talking about on the order of 150 satellites. So, we even need to push
need industry to partner with me on that, to continue to come up with
that down lower. I believe this is feasible, because we got a lot of
ways on how to drive that down, how to drive manufacturability up so
responses back to our request for information (RFI) from industry
we can continue to push proliferation and final development.
saying, you know, if you’re buying into scale, we can push it down
significantly lower than the cost in the current contracts.
Some of the details as to how we are marching forward for our product
release are shown in Figure 11. Tranche 0. As I mentioned, we have a
We’re excited about that. And that really shows the power of
few demos planned in 2021, so I’ll talk a little about those.
proliferation and how we can be resilient against the threats and
Obviously, Blackjack at the top, that’s a DARPA demo and they’ve got
provide these capabilities in a timely manner.
several different concepts. They’re going to fly two satellites later this
This is what enabled the revolution for this kind of concept. And it’s
year and then they’re going to culminate with more than that,
not anything the government has done, it really what’s been driven by
somewhere on the order of a dozen up to 18 satellites in the 2022-
commercial enterprises, commercial innovation and commercial
2023 timeframe as the full DARPA Blackjack program.
industry pushing the price down, only in the cost of these satellites,
but the cost of launches has dropped significantly as well.
Figure 11.
MilsatMagazine
Page 24
March 2021
PIRPL is a joint SDA – MDA program. The performer is Northrop
on because we are definitely a transition partner. That would
Grumman and that is to fly a medium field of view, multi-spectral
demonstrate that you can go from space to a Link 16 tactical datalink
imager for OPIR (Overhead Persistent Infrared) to be able to
network. That will be launched later this year.
demonstrate feasibility and use that for some of our models. That will
be launched on NG-16 later this year.
And, of course, SMC (Space & Missile Systems Center) and DARPA
are working a lot of ground operations. MDA is working a lot of ground
Mandrake II as I mentioned would be on-orbit but, unfortunately, it
operations and we’re tracking and working with them on that.
will now be launched on Transporter-2 in June, so we’re looking
The key thing, then, is in 2022, that’s when we launch our Tranche 0.
forward to that. That will demonstrate optical crosslinks between two
That’s 20 Transport satellites, eight wide field of view OPIR satellites
satellites, optical crosslink to the ground, and optical crosslink to
and two medium field of view HBTSS (Hypersonic and Ballistic
airborne systems. We’re excited about that.
Tracking Space Sensor) satellites being built and delivered by MDA.
LINCS, that is a meta-optical crosslinks demonstration. That is General
Then Tranche 1 comes up in 2024 where we have on the order of 150
Atomics, they are the performer on that. Again, that’s two satellites
Transport satellites and, hopefully, depending on what happens
demonstrating that we can do optical crosslinks with various, other
within the funding debate in the department, on the order of 40
entities. That will also be launched on Transporter-2.
Tracking satellites.
XVI, that is primarily an AFRL program that we are working with AFRL
Longer term plans and what can really be expected… we’re on track
Figure 12.
MilsatMagazine
Page 25
March 2021
to Tranche 0, so that’s pushing forward. All we can do is hope for
That’s a big deal. How can we continue to push differences in our
success there and continue to deliver and make sure we hit those
Navigation, so that we can fuse data together, come up with a Nav
milestones. Obviously the folks that are on contract are the ones that
message and get that off to the field. Those are key areas of
are responsible for making sure they execute.
investment. And we’ll be continuing to push on the optical crosslinks
on that technology. Those are all key things along the Transport
The key thing going forward is Tranche 1. Tranche 1 is going to be a
capability roadmap.
big deal — 150’ish satellites for Transport. Pushing forward, the plan
is to issue an RFP (Request for Proposal) this summer for that. We want
As far as the Sensing roadmap for Tracking and Custody, primarily there
to get those on contract by the end of this calendar year so that we
we are looking at are there other missions that folks are fielding — can
can build and have all 150 satellites ready for launch for that
we use those data to be able to synergistically come up with a solution
September 2024 date. That’s what we’re pushing for.
where we fuse those together. That’s why the areas where we’re
looking for investment and for folks to team with us, as well as any kind
We already have our Request for Information (RFI). We’ve received
of autonomy.
feedback from industry. We understand that and we’re pulling that in.
We plan on coming out with a draft RFP in the summer. Shortly
This is our product roadmap. Please, review this and study it to see if
thereafter, after we get feedback from industry, we’ll come out with the
there are ways you can help. We also have a broad area announcement
real RFP and hope to continue to push forward. That’s what you should
on the street that kind of talks about investment that we’re willing to
be watching for (See Figure 12 on the preceeding page).
make to buy down some of our largest technical risks. If you have
concepts there that can buy down those risks, send us an executive
Let’s talk about the grand vision overview of what capabilities and
summary and we’d love to open up that conversation.
product we plan on fielding in the future. We view this as our product
roadmap. For Tranche 0 has gone into the detail box, what capabilities
With that, we really appreciate your time and the opportunity to talk
will be included in that product. Tranche 1, a little about the details
today about what Space Development Agency has done and our future
there as far as what capabilities we provide to include in that product
plans and look forward to continuing to team with industry to make
as a minimal, viable product.
these a reality. Thank you.
But then, for Tranches 2 , 3, 4 and 5 on out, this is the product
www.sda.mil
roadmap. If folks are looking at what we should be investing in, in
industry, to make sure that we can come up with a product that we can
sell to the Space Development Agency that they will include in their
Tranches that is necessary for the warfighter, this is essentially the
product roadmap that you could use for investment.
We need a lot of autonomy and real-time processing. That’s a big deal.
It’s a big deal not only on the on-board processing, but add hard board
processing, you’ll see a lot of that is included in the green lines here.
That’s Battle Management. There’s a lot of activity in there and we need
help with industry.
We need a lot of algorithm development work to make sure that we
can actually autonomously port so that we can port algorithms
developed from the ground so that we can get those to run
autonomously in space to be able to do data fusion and automatic
target recognition, those kind of things.
On the Transport side, the big key issues there are, how can we be
ensure that we can have very small encryption devices that fit in the
timescale and the SWaP seed that we need to do this proliferation.
MilsatMagazine
Page 26
March 2021
Dispatches
Septentrio’s First OSNMA Encrypted
GNSS Satellite Signal Offers
Protection From Spoofing
Illegal jamming device (in-car chirp jammer) jams GPS receivers within hundreds of
metres including construction sites
Septentrio‘s receiver has successfully authenticated
navigation data of the first OSNMA encrypted GNSS satellite
signal. Septentrio is a provider of high-precision GNSS
positioning solutions.
Download
the CPI
mobile app!
OSNMA (Open Service Navigation Message Authentication) offers endto-end authentication on a civilian signal, protecting receivers from
spoofing attacks. OSNMA is being pioneered by the Galileo Program, with
Septentrio providing a testbed for this technology from the end-user point
of view. The anti-spoofing capabilities of OSNMA will complement
Septentrio’s already best-in-class anti-jamming technology AIM+, and
further strengthen the overall security of Septentrio GNSS receivers.
“The authentication of the Galileo signal using the OSNMA technology
is yet another ‘first’ that we are pleased to share with our close partner
ESA,” commented Bruno Bougard, R&D Director at Septentrio.
“Septentrio is proud and thankful to be able to contribute to the realization
HPA RF calculator
Quickly access HPA data sheets
TWTA/SSPA product finder
Convenient contact info
of one of Galileo’s key differentiators. “
“Septentrio is committed to providing highly accurate and secure
positioning and timing solutions to industrial applications and critical
infrastructure. This is another example where Septentrio demonstrates its
Search: CPI Satcom
leadership in end-to-end GNSS receiver security with its breakthrough antijamming and anti-spoofing technology,” said François Freulon, Head of
Product Management at Septentrio. “Thanks to our future proof products,
we will be rolling out OSNMA in our portfolio as soon as it is available. This
will further enhance the security of our receivers ensuring robust, trustworthy
and reliable operation even in the most challenging environments.”
MilsatMagazine
Page 27
March 2021
Dispatches
KVH Issues Their
TACNAV 3D TACNAV System
SpacePath Awarded New Contracts for
Military + Commercial Uplink Applications
The TACNAV 3D tactical navigation system is now
available from KVH Industries, Inc., (Nasdaq: KVHI) —
TACNAV 3D comes with the P-1775 inertial measurement
unit (IMU) featuring the company’s new photonic
integrated chip (PIC) technology.
KVH has been developing and testing the PIC
SpacePath Communications (‘SpacePath’) has been awarded
technology for more than three years and is continuing to
a contract for their super-compact solid-state amplifiers by a
roll the technology into existing product lines.
major U.S. satellite equipment manufacturer.
KVH’s PIC technology features an integrated planar
SpacePath will supply Ku- and X-band compact form factor, high
optical chip that replaces individual fiber optic
efficiency and proven performance solid-state power amplifiers (SSPA). At
components to simplify production while maintaining or
4.45 kg for the 100W Ku-band unit, these lightweight SSPAs will be
improving accuracy and performance. KVH’s IMUs with
deployed for commercial and secure, military communications in smallsat
PIC technology are designed to deliver improved bias stability and 20
uplink terminals.
times higher accuracy than less expensive MEMS inertial measurement
SpacePath’s high performance uplink amplifiers cover all mission-critical
segments, including digital satellite newsgathering (DSNG), flyaway or
truck-based systems, fixed-Earth stations and MILSATCOM.
units. They also use modular designs for ease of integration and
outstanding repeatability unit-to-unit.
The fiber optic gyro (FOG)-based TACNAV 3D tactical navigation
Colin Bolton
system provides an A-PNT (assured positioning, navigation, and timing)
Colin Bolton, Director of Business Development, SpacePath
solution with an embedded GNSS and optional chip-scale atomic clock
Communications, said, “We are delighted that our lightweight and
(CSAC). TACNAV 3D’s modular tactical design enables it to function as a
compact solid-state amplifiers have been selected for these new
standalone inertial navigation solution and as the core of an A-PNT-
applications. This latest order yet again underlines our proven credentials in
capable multi-functional battlefield management system.
advanced, uplink amplifier technology among the global
telecommunications and SATCOM market.”
KVH’s TACNAV solutions deliver critical, reliable performance in
demanding environments for vehicles ranging from battle tanks and MATVs, to armored vehicles, reconnaissance, and combat support vehicles.
TACNAV systems are currently in use by the U.S. Army and Marine
Corps, as well as many allied customers including Australia, Botswana,
Brazil, Canada, Egypt, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Malaysia,
New Zealand, Poland, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea,
Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, and Turkey.
Dan Conway
“We are pleased to incorporate our newest technology into the TACNAV
3D,” said Dan Conway, EVP of KVH’s inertial navigation group. “We are
committed to ensuring that this battle-proven system provides the precise
navigation that is vital to mission success and addresses the military
demand for assured positioning, navigation, and timing (A-PNT) solutions.”
MilsatMagazine
Page 28
March 2021
SatNews
CONNECTIONS ON EARTH FOR CONNECTIONS IN SPACE
S
U
N
I
O
J L I N Ece!ss
OcrNiptions annddeadcitoriailvses
ubs news a te arch
s
e
e
ly
Fr
ple
eg
Time
Com
om/r
s.c
w
e
satn
d
Worl
wid
zine
aga
eM
tellit
e Sa
e
zin
a
g
a
SatM
er
Cov
imag
e is
of
tesy
cour
t
Fros
h
Marc
0
202
n.
lliva
& Su
SatMagazine | MilsatMagazine | SatNews.com
Feature
MODULAR, OPEN
STANDARDS FOR
SATCOM NETWORKS
WILL YIELD
BENEFITS FOR U.S.
+ ALLIED FORCES
Author: Rick Lober, Vice President and General
Manager, Defense & Intelligence Systems
Division, Hughes Network Systems
MilsatMagazine
Page 30
March 2021
As the planners at the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) work to
Speeding SATCOM Service in the Field
transform the warfighting satellite communications (SATCOM)
In the battlefield, time is of the essence, yet warfighters today can wait
network, part of the challenge is to connect several siloed,
weeks — or even months — to replace or upgrade SATCOM service.
wideband and narrowband systems that span more than 17,000
user terminals from over 100 different providers.
If SATCOM systems were flexible and interoperable, a faulty
terminal could be replaced by autonomously leveraging softwaredefined, Flexible Modem Interface/ Flexible Terminal Interface tools
The Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control (JADC2)
to access another modem, service or satellite to maintain continuity
framework, including the U.S. Air Force’s Advanced Battle
of service.
Management System (ABMS), intends to accomplish this herculean
Instead, to access new commercial SATCOM capabilities using the
task — not just across technology and service providers but across
Satellite Access Request (SAR) and Gateway Access Request (GAR)
allied partners. A modular, open standards approach to building
processes, users are required to specify operating location, equipment
that framework offers the most expeditious and effective path to
and link parameter specifications, and then await approval of the service
enabling the fast, resilient communications network needed across
and then arrival of the necessary equipment.
the DoD enterprise.
Similar processes and time constraints exist when using the DoD’s
capacity on any of the ten Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellites.
Rarely does this approval process move at the speed of the mission.
By adopting modular networking, the Pentagon can better assure
commanders and warfighters that SATCOM networks will be available
when and where they need them.
Visualization of JADC2 Vision. Source link...
Just as a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) offers a fast-track
to modernizing DoD business and technical systems, it yields many
benefits for the DoD’s SATCOM network. Open-standards, modular
Artistic rendition of a WGS satellite, courtesy of Boeing.
satellite architectures employ a variety of SATCOM technologies to
enable the network to deliver the most powerful benefits to the user,
Adapting New Technologies Faster
including seamless information-sharing across systems and users.
With technology advancing at warp speed, maintaining the pace of
This approach also supports the integration of Commercial Off-The-
cutting-edge innovation can challenge any enterprise. Here again, the
Shelf (COTS) technology that can lower the cost of building and
modular, open-systems approach enables fast and easy integration of
maintaining the network, enabling faster software and hardware upgrades
new technologies.
to minimize obsolescence and leverage the latest security protocols.
With new technology and new services, whether military or
Adopting open and modular SATCOM systems is a major, but
commercial, warfighters gain more of the flexibility, resiliency and
necessary transformation for the DoD. Government-designed and
security that they need. In fact, using this paradigm, the DoD can
owned capabilities may meet strict user requirements, but today’s
procure and deploy commercial SATCOM networks quickly, and then
rapidly changing, data-centric battlespace requires innovative
enhance them over time to leverage leading-edge technologies —
technologies so soldiers can adapt and respond quickly — and maintain
wireless LTE, 5G, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and
strategic advantage in protecting U.S. national security.
Machine Learning (ML) — as quickly as they evolve.
MilsatMagazine
Page 31
March 2021
Following this model for SATCOM, warfighters could upgrade a user
communications elements, the Hughes TMA ensures continuous
terminal or replace a system with plug-and-play ease.
connectivity. What’s more, leveraging this mission management system
This is how today’s cellular providers operate, regularly adding new
technologies and capabilities. Individual users can buy or replace a
in the network operations center, the DoD can add new features,
enhance security and attain exponentially higher resiliency.
device in any country and connect to the Internet right away because
of the flexibility gained from enterprise-wide, open-standards
architectures that cross borders and time zones.
Preparing for the Future with
Adaptable, Scalable Technology
The DoD is ready for a more open, modular network architecture, as
Ensuring Government Network Flexibility
evidenced by its focus on implementing the JADC2 concept and the
An open-standards network architecture facilitates the integration of
related service’s network modernization like the Air Force’s ABMS.
commercial
SATCOM
technologies
to
meet
government
For DoD to be responsive to changing national security
requirements faster and maintain flexibility. This is because a modular
requirements, it cannot wait decades to get technology designed,
system makes it easy to work with industry partners to adopt and test
procured and deployed.
new technologies.
Now is the time to take advantage of government and commercial
One specific technology that enables this type of modularity is the
innovation to develop military satellite communications networks that
Hughes Terminal Management Agent (TMA) that works with the DoD’s
are adaptable and scalable — regardless of vendor or service provider.
flexible modem and terminal interface. This innovation evolved from a
Only then will DoD be able to support the warfighter with 24X7, reliable
U.S. Air Force study, under which Hughes has helped the DoD embrace
access to the volumes of data on which commanders and leaders base
commercial, enterprise-wide SATCOM network technology for
mission-critical, real-time decision-making.
maximum diversity, redundancy and security to keep soldiers connected
General John “Jay” Raymond, Chief of Space Operations for the
U.S. Space Force, reminded the space community in December of
— even at the tactical edge.
A ground-breaking software feature, the TMA was developed by
2020 that the DoD is eager to partner with industry to learn about
Hughes to interconnect seamlessly with various satellite modems,
adapting business practices to speed development and production of
regardless of manufacturer or satellite system, for fast, seamless
new systems.
switching across two or more modems within a single terminal. In this
www.hughes.com
way, the TMA weaves together stove-piped systems to enable user
access to diverse platforms from a single terminal, overcoming the
vulnerability of single-threaded satellite systems, which are susceptible
to malicious actors, poor antenna angles and misaligned directional
pointing. Instead of depending on manual operation to change
Rick Lober is the Vice President and General Manager of the
Defense and Intelligence Systems
Division (DISD) at Hughes Network
Systems, LLC. In this role, he is
responsible for applying the
company’s broad range of
SATCOM technologies and services to the
worldwide defense marketplace and intelligence
community. This includes both fixed Ku, Ka and X
band VSAT and mobilesat products and systems.
Applications cover satellite communications on
the move for both ground based an airborne
platforms along with numerous classified
development programs. He has over 25 years
experience with both COTS-based and full MIL
communications and intelligence products,
systems and major programs starting as a design
engineer and progressing to a P&L executive.
MilsatMagazine
Page 32
March 2021
21 - 24 June
Rockville, MD
2 SPACE EVENTS IN 1 LOCATION
NSMMS & CRASTE focus on materials research, processing, and manufacturing
for space/missiles/hypersonic systems, as well as the systems and processes for
accessing and operating in space.
NSMMS
CRASTE
, Additive Manufacturing for Space &
, Advances in Ground System &
Missile Materials
, Development, Processing, & Testing of
Advanced Materials
Range Operations
, Emerging Entry, Descent, and Recovery
Systems & Technologies
, Ground & Flight Test Methodologies
, Emerging Propulsion Systems
, Hypersonics
, High Altitude/Sub-Orbital Platforms
, Missiles & Missile Defense
& Experiments
, Mission Operations & Experiments in Space
, Innovative Test Methodologies & Platforms
, Space Access & Propulsion
, Orbital Access for Small Payloads
, Integrated Vehicle Health Management (IVHM) , Reducing Cost, Increasing Safety,
& Integrated System Health Monitoring (ISHM)
& Improving Reliability
Attend, Exhibit, Sponsor, or Submit an Abstract
www.usasymposium.com/space
Feature
THE EVOLUTION OF END-TO-END COMMUNICATIONS
SERVICE PROVIDERS
Author: Nate White, Vice President and General Manager, Operating Unit, Peraton
The communications industry is at an inflection point where
Network satellites — government customers are looking for fully
satellite, wired and wireless networks are converging into a
integrated managed services that provide lower costs and facilitate
ubiquitous capability that will be available to consumers anywhere
easier use by government staff.
Many government customers operate in remote areas where a
in the world.
satellite is the only long-range communications solution. Current
The military has expressed a desire that satellite communications
deployment concepts require multiple operators trained in a fixed
(MILSATCOM) be as easy to use as a smart phone and be able to roam
number of tailored MILSATCOM systems. This drives up lifecycle costs,
just as freely.
reduces flexibility of implementing new capabilities, and ties operators
The push toward common satellite standards and the advent of Low
Earth Orbit (LEO) constellations with consumer-friendly terminals has
to specific satellite services.
Several recent technology innovations and new business models are
enabling better satellite access at lower costs...
driven MILSATCOM toward a commodity service.
Despite these advances, SATCOM remains largely stove piped
across the different fleet owner/operators’ constellations. A customer
can buy service in LEO, Geosynchronous Earth Orbit (GEO), or Medium
Earth Orbit (MEO); however, an integrated service solution across
multiple constellations and full integration with wired and wireless
networks remains elusive.
Government customers continue to be their own integrators,
•
Rapid growth in LEO commercial satellite service
providers
•
Advent of the first software defined satellites
•
Progress in Electronically Steered Array (ESA)
antennas and smart electronics;
•
Emergence of providers delivering end-to-end
managed SATCOM services.
especially when multiple satellite services are involved. This entails
managing a large and complicated supply chain and staffing satellite
The current race for commercial LEO SATCOM services promises
experts to far-flung locations.
high-bandwidth and low latency communications over much of the
Peraton supports government and commercial communications for
globe at a low cost, including inexpensive and easy to operate user
global missions. That includes personnel in 10 different times zones and
terminals. Services would start at 50 to 150 megabits per second
latitudes — spanning from the Arctic Circle, about 950 miles away from
delivered over a 19 inch, electronically steered array user terminals at
the North Pole, to Antarctica.
monthly prices near those of terrestrial broadband Internet.
For example, Peraton supports all mission communications for
Until these ambitious and technically challenging constellations
NASA: operating 70 meter satellite dishes on three continents in
are fully populated, coverage gaps will remain. Even then, most LEO
support of the Deep Space Network, flying satellites and managing
providers are focusing coverage in regions with the densest
the ground stations for communications to the International Space
consumer populations, and not more remote areas where
Station (ISS), and operating the Near Earth Network, using both
government often operates.
NASA-owned and commercial stations around the world to service
Software defined satellites will provide flexibility and adaptability
national and international, government and commercial entities with
for a new generation of MEO and GEO satellites launching over the
satellites in LEO, GEO, and lunar orbit with multiple frequency bands.
next few years. Having virtual onboard electronics enables radios and
As a provider of satellite telemetry, tracking, and command (TT&C),
other electronics to be upgraded and redefined over the life of the
communications, operations, and mission management for many U.S.
satellite, rather than being limited by hardware delivered at initial
government agencies, including the U.S. Space Force, Peraton is
launch. This means that satellites, over a 20+ year lifespan, can keep
seeing a growing interest in leveraging commercial communications as
up with technology changes rather than being completely bound by
a managed service to augment, replace, or provide resiliency for
the decades-old technology on legacy satellites.
government missions. Since many of these missions operate in austere
locations, MILSATCOM must be an integral part of that service.
Some of the capabilities to be offered on these satellites include
adaptive beam reconfiguration to meet changing requirements — for
Although the government uses some commercial services today —
example, going from broad area coverage to individual spot beams —
such as NASA’s use of commercial earth terminals for its Near Earth
user managed beams, adaptive interference cancellation, security
MilsatMagazine
Page 34
March 2021
service overlays, splitting of beams, and frequency and beam hopping.
A Managed Virtual Network Operator (MVNO) will provide end-to-end
This opens the opportunity for a service provider to efficiently manage
communications, continuous performance management, and service
services for many disparate users with one set of satellite resources.
provisioning anywhere and anytime. The flexibility to access different
Today, many user terminals require an understanding of SATCOM
spectrum across several constellations in different orbits with easy-to-
mechanics and an involved setup process of pointing, alignment,
use terminals and multiple ground gateways and network access are
polarization, and power adjustment. These can be difficult for GEO
requirements that Peraton is addressing with its government and
terminals and completely daunting for the tracking antennas required
commercial customers.
for LEO or MEO connectivity. Errors in setup can adversely impact the
Governments also are looking to access both commercial and
data rate and, at worst, cause catastrophic interference for other users
government satellite systems via the same service platform. Being an
on the same or adjacent satellites.
effective
MILSATCOM
managed
service
provider
requires
The new Electronically Steered Array (ESA) user terminals and smart
understanding the customer’s mission; strong partnerships with other
electronics begin to abstract the complexity of MILSATCOM terminal
providers that facilitate the end-to-end service chain; a platform that
operations from the end user and operators.
can handle the speed, scale, and continual awareness of operations;
With continuing governmental budget constraints, the number of
and staying abreast of evolving technology drivers.
trained MILSATCOM operators and competition for logistics transport
Managing a customer’s experience from end user device to
to forward areas are driving a larger need for simplicity of operation
invoicing is a complicated endeavor with many moving parts. However,
and compactness as key attributes for new terminals. ESA and phased
in MILSATCOM forums and conferences, commercial and government
array terminals are making it easier for users to connect with a few
customers frequently express a desire to have the service plan
different Ku GEO satellite providers but still require the buyer to put
portability, standard interfaces, and ease-of-use enjoyed by cellular
together the total solution of terminal, bandwidth, and backhaul.
smart phone users worldwide.
In addition to antennas, several manufacturers are developing smart
Many commercial and government MILSATCOM customers are
electronics such as modems and Low-Noise Block (LNB) down
starting to see technologies and services that are driving larger
converters
satellite
coverage areas, easier to use services, and lower costs. As the market
communications protocols within the same device, referred to as
develops more managed services, consumers and government users
“multilingual” satellite devices.
will benefit from an overall better customer experience using SATCOM
that
can
negotiate
different
proprietary
These advances will also facilitate more flexibility of MILSATCOM
anywhere, anytime.
band and fleet connectivity for autonomous systems and vehicles, such
www.peraton.com
as Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV), submersible Remotely Operated
Vehicles (ROV), and in-flight WiFi systems. These platforms generally
have been constrained to one provider given the complexities of
Nate White is Vice President and General Manager of Peraton’s Communications
integrating the current proprietary solutions. The new antenna and
division. He is responsible for delivering commercial telecommunications,
electronics innovations, along with a growing push for commercial
satellite communications, and integrated services for Peraton’s government,
interface standards, will make MILSATCOM more accessible and cost
critical infrastructure, and commercial customers. The unit leverages its own
effective for consumers and government customers.
network and a robust team of partners to support its customers.
Despite these advances, a gap remains in delivering multispectrum and multi-orbit access as a holistic service. Most satellite
fleet owner/operators primarily focus on their own satellite fleets and
Earth terminal gateway infrastructure and do not provide full, end-toend services. Although several of the new LEO broadband providers
deliver a vertically integrated solution, they are generally focused on
a specific commercial market rather than the range of services used
by government.
The new technologies and variety of satellite fleets, Earth terminals,
and ground networks distributed across the world present the
opportunity for a service provider to efficiently integrate and manage a
complete set of tailorable satellite services for a range of government
and commercial users.
MilsatMagazine
Page 35
March 2021
Feature
THE SATCOM FAILSAFE FOR BORDER SECURITY
Author: Warren Ackerley, Business Development Director, Paradigm
Paradigm’s MANTA in use on a Fast Attack Craft.
Image is courtesy of the company
MilsatMagazine
Page 36
March 2021
U.S. Customs and Border Protection Officers are seizing $14
There are huge benefits to both but what happen, for example,
million of hard drugs and weapons in Arizona, while also rescuing
when relying on mobile in an area so vast and terrain so harsh that
40 illegal migrants lost in freezing conditions south of Texas.
coverage becomes unpredictable?
Meanwhile, the Indian Border Security Force has detected a
What happens when the large amounts of data handled by a multi-
second tunnel instigated in Pakistan purported to facilitate the
channel mesh network, needs to be communicated to a central base
infiltration of terrorists. Plus, a huge cache of arms and ammunition
that’s located hundreds of miles away or on the other side of a
is seized in Kashmir.
mountain range?
The resources that support this breadth and complexity of border
fiber is subject to very high initial capital expenditure and, as such,
security operations all over the world, vary wildly. From people-power
needs justifying as a permanent solution. That can be a process that
to logistics capability the only factor that’s quite as diverse is the
will take a very long time to complete and it will never reach everywhere
respective environments. Terrain, weather and political sensitivities all
that comms are not just wished for, but absoluteluy required.
Isn’t that where fiber plays a role? Possibly, but, the introduction of
contribute to an ecosystem in which one size will never ‘fit-all’.
While existing telecommunications networks such as 3G, 4G and
These circumstances do, however, have something in common:
even LTE are the obvious choice for primary communication networks,
they’re all critical. If one part of the communications infrastructure in
they simply aren’t always available across the vast areas covered by
any one of these instances fails, the consequences are serious. In many
border security operations. Even where the infrastructure does exist,
instances, they could prove to be fatal.
large-scale fixed equipment may prove a tempting target for those who
In order to understand how critical communications infrastructures
should best evolve, it’s important to understand the context in which
they came to be as they are. As technology has evolved, supporting
seek to threaten the border’s communications capability.
This is where satellite communications found its place in support of
critical communications.
infrastructures tend to have been pieced together through a
combination of VHF and mobile networks.
Figure 1. Paradigm’s SWARM in use by a
combat camera team.
MilsatMagazine
Page 37
March 2021
Figure 2. The Paradigm Interface Module
Satellite communications, in particular VSATs (very small aperture
The introduction of simple user interfaces such as PIM® (Paradigm
terminals), offer a complementary option. In circumstances where there
Interface Module — see Figure 2 above), means that the process of
can be no downtime and in many remote areas that would otherwise
deploying a satellite terminal has become quick and easy, even for
remain unconnected, the adoption of satellite communications is crucial
those with no technical knowledge. PIM integrates the router, spectrum
to the safeguarding effort.
analyser, modem, terminal management and GPS function into a small,
How does it achieve this? Often the supporting satellite network
is run as a back-up to the primary network: while available, the
backhaul data connection of the surveillance unit is provided by the
local infrastructure.
ruggedized module. A clear palette of LEDs and three buttons makes
operation intuitive and easy.
The ability to have this common interface across all terminal types
significantly reduces the need for training. Field operatives’ familiarity
In the background, the satellite terminal connects to the satellite
with the single, easy-to-use interface could also save valuable time in a
network in preparation to provide a fall-back connection. The checks
critical situation. What else makes SATCOM an effective failsafe for
and balances performed by the terminal continue to monitor both
border security?
connections, automatically switching to satellite when terrestrial or
cellular services become unreliable, or don’t exist.
Users barely notice any changeover because, with state-of-the-art
automatic switching, there is barely any time delay. High-quality, highthroughput service is maintained throughout the operation.
and wide, often moving with the threat. Transport can be by land
vehicle or by air and of course, by boat in coastal areas.
This variety means that end-user requirements are very subjective.
One of the most exciting developments in this capability, is the ease
with which it can now be managed. Doubling the reliability of your
network no longer means doubling a unit’s technical expertise. In fact,
it’s become remarkably easy for field operatives.
Portability is an important factor. With large expanses of land to
cover, it is not uncommon for border security operations to expand far
Where land vehicles are used, being able to load and unload your
solution in a single box presents clear benefits.
When in the air, space is often limited and requires the ability to
‘carry on’ an entire terminal to an aircraft, avoiding baggage
check-in procedures.
When travelling by helicopter, requirements can be more extreme;
Paradigm’s ultra-portable SWARM terminal (see Figure 1 on previous
page) is designed to be carried as an IATA compliant hand carry
solution, or even in a backpack, where the operators need to ensure
their hands are free, to disembark or to trek to the final boarder
deployment location.
MilsatMagazine
Page 38
March 2021
Figure 3. Paradigm’s MANTA in
marine use.
significant difference to maneuverability and practicality; easy to use on
the craft and simply removed for tactical land operations.
Flexibility is also becoming increasingly important. As well as VSAT
manufacturers needing to offer compatibility with the particular satellite
network service to which a border security agency chooses to subscribe,
there may be a need to, for example, change frequency bands.
Terminals, such as Paradigm’s HORNET (see Figure 4 below), offer
the ability to switch between frequency bands in the field, to meet
operational requirements. Developing the terminal and related modular
components in such a way as to offer this ease of interchangeability,
has become a focus in the design and engineering process, led very
much by end-user requirements.
The challenges presented to border security operations will
continue to evolve in size and complexity and so too will the
Once in the correct location, the equipment needs to operate in what
communications infrastructure on which they depend. Despite this,
can be extreme conditions. The term ‘rugged’ is often used to describe
there are ways to simplify the end-user experience.
capability but, what exactly does that mean and why is it relevant to
border security?
The technical and environmental capabilities VSAT must
demonstrate are tough. Through the correct investment and a track-
Because borders span the globe, naturally they extend through
record of successful field use, the industry has proven its suitability.
desserts, mountains and everything in between. VSAT equipment that
Satellite communications will continue to offer a high degree of
is truly rugged will operate in these extremes, coping with the
certainty and adaptability in critical communications networks. The
temperatures that are experienced in the Sahara and the Antarctic.
challenge in the 21st century is tailoring solutions to end-user
Thoase are two locations you will find Paradigm products today.
environments, all the while maintaining familiarity and an exceptional
Water penetration, frost and fierce gusts of wind present further
ease of use.
practical challenges. Of course, there’s the occasional bump.
www.paracomm.co.uk
Underpinning this is the need for users to have confidence that the
equipment will work, which is only achieved through solutions that are
field proven and, consistently demonstrate low failure rates.
When dealing with border protection at sea or in rivers, securing
and maintaining Communications-On-The-Move (COTM) is critical.
Warren Ackerley is Business Development Director of
Paradigm’s MANTA terminal (see Figure 3 above) has experienced
Paradigm. Warren’s 40 years in the global satellite
particular interest from operatives who require high speed data
communications industry began with the Skynet and NATO
throughputs but have to deploy with small craft. A terminal that weighs
communication systems in the Royal Air Force. A variety of
five times less than some equivalently capable alternatives makes a
subsequent senior roles with satellite service providers,
manufacturers and integrators across continents, prepared
Figure 4. Paradigm’s HORNET during
field testing.
him to co-found Paradigm in 1997. Warren’s focus on business development has
positioned Paradigm as the go-to for government and military clients who need
simple, rugged, portable solutions designed to meet their particular needs.
Paradigm provides state of the art satcom solutions, making satellite
communication simple for everyone. Paradigm’s range of portable, rapidly
deployable terminals are complemented by the PIM® user interface, a
rugged, easy to use platform that’s compatible with all major modems and
terminals. Paradigm’s response time and flexibility, have satisfied the most
demanding of end user requirements across military, government, NGO,
commercial and enterprise clients for 25 years. Exceptional levels of reliability
and adaptability make Paradigm the natural SATCOM partner for those
operating in critical conditions.
MilsatMagazine
Page 39
March 2021
Feature
Taking The
Tactical Cloud
With You...
High Speed, Secure
Networking At The
Edge Of
The Battlefield
Author: Charlie Kawasaki,
Curtiss-Wright Defense Solutions
To maintain warfighter overmatch, the US
military
must
deploy
advanced
technologies for situational awareness to
the edge of the battlefield.
In order to better coordinate deployed forces and
enable new capabilities, the US Army, Air Force,
and Navy are actively looking to new programs to
ensure warfighters have maximum agility and
situational awareness.
These programs will deliver a variety of
compute and bandwidth intensive technologies,
increasing the use of video, big data analytics,
artificial intelligence and machine learning, for
example, to deliver the command and control
information that warfighters need to coordinate
their activities.
The software needed to run these new
capabilities is increasingly being developed to run
in the cloud, which itself might reside in range of
data centers, ranging from the large commercial
services such as Amazon Web Services (AWS)
GovCloud and Microsoft Azure Government, or
the Department of Defense’s (DoD) Regional
Hub Nodes (RHN), located in five separate
strategic regions and used by deployed U.S.
Marine Corps and U.S. Army units to access
transport information from theater tactical networks
around the world.
As forces develop greater dependence on
cloud-based services, what happens when wide
area access to the cloud becomes denied due to
MilsatMagazine
Page 40
March 2021
contested communications through electronic warfare (EW), or
The Navy recently issued an RFP to industry to support Manned-
diminished due to reduced bandwidth?
Unmanned Air Vehicle Team Tactical Cloud analysis, including an
The key to delivering advanced new tactical capabilities and
approach for providing remotely deployed cloud or processing services
ensuring their continued availability if there’s no access to the cloud is
in case the tactical unit becomes temporarily disconnected from the
to vastly increase the capability, speed and mobility of networking and
tactical network.
compute at the edge of the battlefield. That will make possible the
A key requirement for realizing the promise of mobile data centers
at the battlefield edge that can support the firehose of data associated
replication of critical data and services in mobile clouds.
As compute and bandwidth hungry applications, such as video and
with cutting edge applications, such as augmented reality and AI/ML
AI/ML, proliferate to support battlefield operations, processing needs
based network cybersecurity, is the availability of a small form factor
to happen locally at maximum speeds. To enable the next generation
high-speed network switch.
of situational awareness capabilities the DoD is looking to deploy cloud
The good news is that recent technology breakthroughs now make
replication between remote computing nodes to provide continuity of
it possible to deploy rugged, small factor 10 Gigabit Ethernet (GigE)
operations in the case of network outages or low bandwidth
solutions that deliver the increased network speeds and data security
Examples of these programs include the US Army Cross Functional
required by next generation compute and network hungry applications.
Team’s CPI-2 which is currently developing prototypes of its Command
This also means that the replication of server data becomes a practical
Post Support Vehicle (CPSV), essentially a mobile data center that in
reality, enabling the warfighter to have access to a copy of the cloud,
future iterations could support local cloud. CPSV is a rugged truck that
hosted on mobile data centers, in the event that the main cloud
carries a small data center’s worth of servers. Likewise, the Army Future
becomes inaccessible.
Command has published a roadmap that specifies requirements for
Previous, network switch offerings lacked either the speed, being
limited to 1 GbE performance, lacked the ruggedization needed for
robust cloud capabilities.
The US Air Force is developing the Advanced Battle Management
deployed environments, or were too large and heavy to optimize their
System (ABMS), a federated cloud system that will provide secure
fielding. All of that changed recently with the introduction by Cisco of
processing from a security cloud it refers to as CloudONE, already
their new ten-port 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch designed for onboard
running in Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure government clouds. It
mission-critical tactical mobile communications.
also defines a local cloud, EdgeONE, to provide continued security in
case communications with CloudONE are disconnected.
MilsatMagazine
Page 41
March 2021
This hardened switch module, based on Cisco’s latest ESS 9300
and capabilities conforming to standards such as FIPS-140 and
technology, has a -40-85 C operating temperature that delivers optimal
Common Criteria.
performance in extreme harsh environments. Measuring 110mm x
An example of a DoD-ready solution based on the new Cisco 10
GbE switch is Curtiss-Wright’s recently introduced PacStar 448
85mm, the compact module requires only 35W of power.
Additionally, Cisco’s proven track record delivering COTS solutions
module. Housed in a fully rugged casing, the PacStar 448 adds the
that meet extensive DoD cybersecurity requirements continues with
military interconnects and features, such as support for running on
this new switch. Security features include Cisco’s TrustSec, Secure
military standard batteries, that make it ideal for deployment in mobile
Boot and authentication, authorization and accounting features to
data centers.
identify and restrict users, all the while measuring their usage while
Curtiss-Wright was closely involved in the development of the
accessing resources — and like all Cisco products offered to US DoD,
solution from the early stages of its design, and collaborated on early
Cisco plans to fully certify the solution’s cryptographic implementations
engineering samples to ensure that military performance requirements
were successfully met.
The PacStar 448 plugs directly into
the
widely
deployed
PacStar
Modular Data Center (see photo
on the following page), a tactical
and expeditionary rugged data
center capable of hosting mission
command, cloud/storage, sensor
fusion, AI and analytics applications.
PacStar MDC supports hyperconverged
infrastructure,
cloud
replication and high-speed networkbased tactical communications at
the edge of the battlefield — using
PacStar
448
as
the
network
infrastructure enabling high speed
data replication.
PacStar 448
MilsatMagazine
Page 42
March 2021
Charlie Kawasaki joined
PacStar, now a CurtissWright subsidiary, in
early 2005 to lead the
company’s technology
strategy and future
product roadmap for its proprietary
product lines. Charlie currently leads
PacStar strategic initiatives –
investigating and developing new
integrated solutions and technologies
to meet customer needs, in particular,
focused on areas such as Commercial
Solutions for Classified (CSfC),
Cybersecurity, and Edge Computing.
The PacStar Modular Data Center.
Charlie works closely with technology
The advent of rugged size, weight and power optimized 10 GigE
and product teams from our largest partners to create joint solutions,
networking hardware packaged for deployment in harsh environments
leveraging PacStar core technologies to create optimal tactical and
will deliver the secure, high-speed data replication capability needed
expeditionary solutions. Charlie also serves as a technical and product
to realize the DoD’s vision of mobile cloud computing.
evangelist raising awareness for PacStar solutions in the company’s target
When radio links to the RHN, Command Post or Tactical Operations
markets and customers.
Centers become severed or diminished, warfighters will maintain their
Charlie has extensive experience in product development, software
access to the critical new situational awareness technologies and
engineering, technology licensing, patent development, business
capabilities that provide them with force multiplier superiority.
development, product marketing, general management and M&A. Charlie has
more than 35 years experience in early stage technology companies, creating
Now, the tactical cloud can go where the warfighter goes.
www.curtisswrightds.com
dozens of software products for Internet infrastructure, cybersecurity, PC
management, and relational databases.
Charlie served as CEO of RuleSpace, Inc., which created AI-based Internet
parental controls applications used by companies such as AOL, Yahoo and
Microsoft. Before RuleSpace, he held
product development and engineering
management roles at companies
including The Palace, Inc., Creative
Multimedia Corp., Central Point
Software, Inc., Asymetrix Corp. and
Microrim, Inc. In 2019, he was named
Outstanding Industry Collaborator by
Oregon State University.
pacstar.com
Opening image is courtesy of Daniel
Balaure@danielbalaure
MilsatMagazine
Page 43
March 2021
Feature
Photo of SES O3b satellites,
courtesy of Marie Ange Sanguy
GOVERNMENT SATELLITE REPORT
DoD Doubles Down On MEO Satellite To Meet Critical Connectivity Requirements
Author: Ryan Schradin, Executive Editor
As IT modernization and digital transformation initiatives continue
The integrated nature of this new hardware solution makes it easy to
to introduce new, mission-critical military applications to the tactical
airlift, forklift or tow to wherever connectivity is needed and requires
edge, and as the Department of Defense (DoD) increasingly
nothing but a power source to deliver a veritable bubble of 5G or WiFi
embraces network-enabled and connected platforms and vehicles
connectivity to network-enabled solutions, platforms and vehicles at
in theater, the need to extend high-throughput, low-latency
the tactical edge.
According to SES, this new solution features a, “…self-contained
connectivity to the battlefield has become essential.
ruggedized design [that] houses all equipment in a rack system with
Recently, the DoD took important steps towards securing that
AC unit, power distribution, and a battery backup system and can
connectivity when the agency announced two key satellite service and
achieve upwards of 400 Mbps x 200 Mbps of throughput over the
hardware acquisitions that will open the door to ubiquitous
O3b network.”
As Brigadier General Pete Hoene, USAF (retired),
communications virtually anywhere on the planet.
The DoD announced that SES Government (SES GS) had awarded
the President and CEO of SES GS, explained, “The
a task order against its existing, single-award, Blanket Purchase
need to provide resilient and diverse satellite
Agreement (BPA) for the purchase of the company’s new, portable,
communications is critical to meeting Department of
maritime solution. This integrated, self-contained hardware solution will
Defense SATCOM requirements. This…turnkey MEO
enable the DoD to easily and seamlessly deliver high-throughput, low-
terminal…can be scaled up or down based on the
latency connectivity to ships at sea, docks as well as forward operating
number of users and support requirements. The
bases via the SES O3b MEO satellite constellation.
demonstrated throughput is unsurpassed in a
Pete Hoene
portable maritime system of this size.”
MilsatMagazine
Page 44
March 2021
where there is no reliable terrestrial
connectivity, and we’re excited to
bring innovative and secure solutions
via satellite to solve their problems.”
The need for connectivity at the
edge continues to increase as the
military
embraces
advanced,
network-enabled vehicles, systems,
platforms, and weapons systems.
These new DoD announcements
illustrate how essential the military
views network connectivity for
future mission and operations as
well as the continued importance
and reliance on satellite services
and
offerings
to
meet
those
connectivity requirements.
The DoD use cases for this new mobile solution are almost
For additional information on the new, portable maritime solution
numerous to count — from enabling morale, welfare and recreation
being embraced by the DoD, select this direct link. For additional
(MWR) capabilities aboard ships at sea, to the establishment of
information on the recently announced loopback configuration, select
fully-connected, IT-enabled field hospitals with telemedicine
this direct link.
capability in warzones.
However, the task order for this new mobile solution was just one
This article first appeared on GovSat and is republished with
of the major satellite announcements delivered by the DoD and SES
permission of SES-GS.
with the potential to deliver a more connected warfighter.
ses-gs.com
SES then announced that the company was working in partnership
with a “key U.S. Government customer” to design, develop and field a
loopback capability that would, “…provide greatly improved missioncritical communications for DoD operations in remote locations in
Southwest Asia.”
Acquired via another task order issued against the existing, single-
Ryan Schradin is the Executive Editor of GovSat Report. A
award BPA with the DoD, the implementation of this loopback
communications expert and journalist with over a decade of
configuration enables the DoD to use SES O3b MEO high-throughput,
experience, Ryan has edited and contributed to multiple
low-latency connectivity without the use of a commercial gateway. This
popular online trade publications focused on government
is accomplished by leveraging, “…an in-theatre hub that provides in-
technology, satellite, unified communications and network
beam connectivity, similar to a hub-spoke configuration, and is
infrastructure. His work includes editing and writing for the
managed and controlled from an SES Network Operations Centre
GovSat Report, The Modern Network, Public Sector View,
(NOC) via a Skala Network terminal.”
and Cloud Sprawl. His work for the GovSat Report includes editing content,
The adoption of this loopback configuration and the continued use
establishing editorial direction, contributing articles about satellite news and
of the SES O3b MEO satellite service will act as a bridge to enable
trends, and conducting both written and podcast interviews. Ryan also
warfighters that are off-grid and operating at the tip of the spear in
contributes to the publication’s industry event and conference coverage,
Southwest Asia to still access important communications, intelligence
providing in-depth reporting from leading satellite shows.
information, and network-enabled platforms and applications.
“The growing threat within the region requires the troops to have
access to near real-time decision-making intelligence at the tactical
edge. This mission requires high-throughput, low-latency connectivity
that only our O3b MEO constellation can provide flexibly,” explained
Hoene. ”We understand these troops’ mission requirements in areas
MilsatMagazine
Page 45
March 2021
Feature
Space Surveillance Telescope To Assist In
Space Domain Awareness (SDA)
Space and Missile Systems Center Led A
Three-Year International partnership Effort
to Move SST To Australia
Space Surveillance Telescope
Image is courtesy of U.S.A.F., David Salanitri.
MilsatMagazine
Page 46
March 2021
Thanks to a three-year effort by the Space and Missile Systems
associated with the space domain that could affect space operations
Center, academic and industry partners and an international
and thereby impact the security, safety, economy or environment of the
partnership between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and
United States.
the Australian Department of Defence, a unique deep-space
This includes everything from monitoring existing satellites and
monitoring telescope will soon be scanning deep space from its
larger space hardware such as the International Space Station (ISS);
new home in Western Australia.
detecting and mapping new artificial objects in space; predicting
when and where a space object may reenter Earth’s atmosphere;
The Space Surveillance Telescope (SST) is a
tracking space debris; monitoring for incoming missiles and making
ground-based telescope designed for the rapid,
sure re-entering space debris or meteors are not mistaken for
search, detection and tracking of dim objects in
incoming missiles.
deep space, mainly in geosynchronous orbit (GEO),
“What we’re trying to do is understand the location of the objects
approximately 22,236 miles above the Earth) said
we’re looking at, and determine whether that object has either moved
Jon Hutfilz, Odyssey Systems contract program
or degraded or some other factor,” Hutfilz said. “We want to keep an
manager for SST at SMC, which coordinated the
eye on space assets and identify any threats — debris or other things
move and provided support operations.
John Hutfilz
— that would cause a problem. The speeds at which things move out
“The SST is a tremendously important tool for
there are really, really fast and even a small piece of debris could hit
maintaining Space Domain Awareness, which is
one of our assets in a way that would be devastating, and would then
critical not just for the U.S. Space Force, but for our
create more debris.
military, scientific and academic partners around the
“If we start losing GPS satellites, it will severely impact the way the
world,” said Lt. Gen. John F. Thompson, SMC
United States runs its daily business,” Hutfilz continued. “From ATM
Commander and Program Executive Officer for
machines, credit card transactions, e-commerce or anything else that
Space. “Thanks to the combined efforts of SMC, the
GPS provides the timing for, all those things will come to a halt and
DoD, the Australian Department of Defense and the
we’ll revert back to a lack of technology we haven’t seen in my lifetime.”
Royal Australian Air Force, MIT-Lincoln Laboratory
The SST was originally constructed as a Defense Advanced Research
and L3 Harris, the U.S. Space Surveillance Network will now have critical
Projects Agency (DARPA) advanced technology demonstrator at the
coverage in the Southern Hemisphere.”
Atom site on the White Sands Missile Range in New Mexico between
Lt. Gen. John F.
Thompson
Space Domain Awareness (SDA) is one of the important missions
2002 and 2011 by MIT-Lincoln Laboratory and L3 Brashear (now
of the U.S. Space Force and is defined as the identification,
L3Harris). In 2017, it was turned over to the U.S. Air Force to operate
characterization and understanding of any factor, passive or active,
as a dedicated sensor of the U.S. Space Surveillance Network.
The enclosure for the Space Surveillance Telescope was provided by the Australian government.
Photo is courtesy of Aus Def Media.
MilsatMagazine
Page 47
March 2021
The SST is the largest of the ground-based
telescopes used for Space Domain Awareness,
Hutfilz said. Although
the SST started out as
a prototype, once it had demonstrated its
military value, the DoD determined it
would be more effective scanning the skies
in the southern
hemisphere and the decision was made to
move the telescope to Australia.
Moving a 261,850-pound telescope from New Mexico to Australia
The SST’s Telescope Mount Gimbal (TMG) being lifted into the SST Facility near Exmouth,
Western Australia. Photo is courtesy of MIT-Lincoln Laboratory
The Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) operates 24-hours a day, 7-days a week
collecting metric and Space Object Identification data for man-made orbiting objects
without the disruption of weather, time of day and atmosphere that can limit groundbased systems. SBSS has a clear and unobstructed view of resident space objects
orbiting earth from its 390-mile altitude orbit. (Image courtesy of Boeing)
was a complicated process. First, the telescope was carefully
disassembled and packed onto trucks and taken to a seaport in
Galveston, Texas, Hutfilz said. From there, it was loaded onto ships and
The Space Surveillance Telescope Azimuth Base is lifted into the new SST facility in
Exmouth, Western Australia. Photo courtesy of MIT-Lincoln Laboratory
taken through the Panama Canal and then to the seaport at Freemantle,
Australia, and then transported by truck 1,200 kilometers north to
Exmouth, in Western Australia, where it was reassembled in a brandnew facility built by the Australian government.
“This was about 17 truckloads of very delicate material,” Hutfilz
said. “The telescope’s primary mirror is 3.5 meters in diameter and
required extreme care in handling. With a program impact of five years
and $30 million dollars, every possible precaution was taken.”
As the SST was originally a prototype system that the USAF
inherited, SMC needed to change it to an operational system, which
included upgrading the hardware and software so it could be operated
and maintained in Australia and improving the cybersecurity to prevent
any attempts to disrupt operations.
About a dozen people from SMC in Los Angeles and Colorado
Springs, including support from the Aerospace Corporation and
The SST’s Primary Mirror lifted through the Observation Floor Hatch in the new Australian
facility. Photo is courtesy of MIT-Lincoln Laboratory,
MITRE, worked on the project, Hutfilz said.
MilsatMagazine
Page 48
March 2021
“Over the past several
years Australia’s role in
the SDA mission has
continued to grow,”
said Gordon Kordyak,
SMC Space Domain
Awareness
Chief.
“Their overall support
Gordon Kordyak
as a SDA partner has been nothing short
of phenomenal. Starting with the C-Band
Radar,
and
Surveillance
now
with
Telescope,
the
Space
Australia’s
steadfast investment and commitment
continues to be a true catalyst for the SDA
mission’s progress and success. We
deeply value and appreciate Australia’s
partnership as we prepare to jointly
deliver the world’s fastest searching
The SST, fully assembled in its new Australian facility. Photo is courtesy of MIT-Lincoln Laboratory
telescope in the interest of protecting our
joint defense, civil, economic and academic
MIT-Lincoln Laboratory and L3 Harris were partners on
the
Dr. Grant Stokes
disassembly
process;
L3
Harris
interests in outer space.”
originally
The design of the SST facility was based largely on the original SST
constructed the telescope. Lincoln Laboratory was the
facility in New Mexico and adjusted to suit Australian conditions,
system integrator and also developed several key
including ensuring that the facility was designed to withstand cyclones,
subsystems including the focal plane, camera, as well
Gillman said.
as the processing and control hardware and software,
During the design phase of the facility, lessons learned from the
according to Dr. Grant Stokes, head of the Space
activities conducted in New Mexico and the issues encountered by the
Systems and Technology Division at MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
facility there were applied to improve on the original design and to
The Australian government built the new facility for the SST, which
allow for ongoing sustainment of the capability, Gillman said.
was completed in May of 2020. Although the deconstruction, transport
These changes included a redesign of the observatory bogey and
and reconstruction of the telescope was a U.S. led activity, the
track system to materially reduce the degradation of those components.
Australian Department of Defence collaborated closely with the U.S.
Also, the height and diameter of the observatory was increased and a
Air Force and U.S. Space Force, providing advice on Australian law and
larger crane as included within the observatory to allow for the
policy ensuring a smooth passage into the country, noted Group
movement of the large component telescope internal to the facility
Captain Andrew Gillman, Royal Australian Air Force.
during maintenance cycles, Gillman said.
Once the telescope arrived in Exmouth, local maintenance personnel
were on hand to assist the U.S. team with the integration effort.
The SST achieved “first light” — the first time a telescope is used
to take an astronomical image after it has been assembled — in March
“The Space Surveillance Telescope project has truly been an
of 2020 and will become fully operational in 2022, providing data for
amazing partnership between Australia and the United States with the
the U.S., Australia and their allies. The Royal Australian Air Force will
overall project extending far beyond the three-year telescope movement
operate the SST in coordination with the USSF Space Delta 2.
activity and will continue on into the future,” Gillman said. “I am
The SST is a three-mirror Mersenne-Schmidt design — the largest
constantly meeting people who were involved at one point or another.
ever built — with a 3.5 meter aperture and a 6 square degree field of
The genuine collaboration between the Australian and U.S. teams has
view for wide field surveillance. It is an f/1 telescope, meaning that the
been the foundation stone of the success of this project. The strength
ratio from the aperture to the focal length is equal. In another first, the
of the relationship set up the project well to handle the challenges of
camera’s CCD focal plane is curved, not flat and can produce tens of
the Covid pandemic.”
thousands of observations per night, consisting of new objects
previously unseen by any other space surveillance network sensor.
MilsatMagazine
Page 49
March 2021
The SST was the 6th largest telescope in the United States and will
Space is not a benign environment but is, instead, occupied by an
become Australia’s second largest, Hutfilz said.
increasingly large number of satellites, natural objects such as asteroids
“The SST program was intended to demonstrate new telescope
and debris from satellites and rocket launches, Gillman commented,
technology with some very aggressive optics,” Stokes said. “As
adding this congested environment poses a threat to satellites that
telescope apertures tend to get larger, the field of view tends to
provide services we all rely upon, including GPS, mobile phones,
collapse. Astronomers who have built very large telescopes end up with
internet and TV[1].
a soda-straw piece of the sky that’s accessible. The SST was built with
Globally, the private and public space industry is worth more than
a large aperture to get sensitivity quickly and a wide field of view – it is
$400 billion, estimated to grow to $1 trillion by 2040; the SST will
unlike any other telescope previously built.”
contribute to the protection of space services and the space economy
Hutfilz added: “Now take that soda straw and make it a windshield
by enabling observation of small, dim objects that pose a threat to
point of view from your car — we end up being able to scan the sky
active satellites. Scientifically, NASA uses SST observations for the
above the SST several times in the night and we’re able to do that
purpose of planetary defense, monitoring the locations of near-Earth
very rapidly.”
asteroids and comets, Gillman added.
“The SST is intended to search the area called deep space by the
DoD,” Stokes explained. “One of those orbits is called geosynchronous
The telescope’s former facility in New Mexico is still there, but there
are no plans at present to install another telescope, Hutfilz said.
(GEO) which is a very important orbit to cover. GEO is a special orbit
The USSF also has the Space Fence, a space-surveillance radar site
where the orbital period is exactly 24 hours. In that orbit, satellites tend
located on the Kwajalein Island in the Republic of Marshall Islands. The
to ‘hang’ over a static, equatorial area of the planet. That single satellite
Space Fence, which became operational in 2020, is another ground-
can address maybe a third of the planet surface, so it’s very important
based radar system that is primarily focused on tracking objects in Low
real estate.”
Earth Orbit (LEO, about 1,200 miles above Earth.)
Data collected by the U.S. Space Surveillance Network — including
the SST — is analyzed by the 18th Space Control Squadron at
Vandenberg AFB and assessed for any potential threats to space
assets. If a threat is identified, the owners of those assets are notified
so they can be moved.
The USSF’s Space and Missile Systems Center, located at the Los Angeles Air
Force Base in El Segundo, California, is the center of excellence for acquiring
and developing military space systems. SMC’s portfolio includes space launch,
global positioning systems, military satellite communications, a defense
meteorological satellite control network, range systems, space-based infrared
systems, and space situational awareness capabilities. Contact
SMC@Spaceforce.mil and follow on LinkedIn.
United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs —Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the
Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space cover image.
MilsatMagazine
Page 50
March 2021
Keeping Track Of Space Debris
The vast domain of outer space is mostly empty.
One real-life example is when China in 2007 tested a Low
Earth Oorbiting anti-satellite weapon that created a
However, more than 60 years of space launches have left the Earth ringed with
substantial amount of debris — much of which is still in orbit,
dead satellites from multiple space-faring nations, abandoned launch stages
McClintock said. By 2016, less than 600 of the estimated
and broken-down components from assorted space vehicles.
3,500 fragments had fallen out of orbit, leaving 2,900
fragments still on orbit.
This debris poses an increasing threat to the ever-increasing number of
Richard Mason
satellites and other space vehicles launched in various orbits around the Earth.
How much debris is circling the Earth? Estimates vary. The
While launches today are planned to reduce the amount of new space debris,
European Space Agency (ESA) estimates there are about 34,000 objects
no one solution has been developed to remove the existing debris.
greater than 10 cm, 900,000 objects from 1 cm to 10 cm and 128 million
objects between 1 mm and 1 cm orbiting the Earth as of January 2021.
“The Space Domain is a natural resource that, just like the
Earth’s terrestrial environment, needs to be preserved for
“These are objects that are travelling at 17,500 miles an hour at
future generational use,” said Gordon Kordyak, SMC Space
the low end, in terms of their velocity, and their velocity also
Domain Awareness Chief.
determines their altitude,” said Peter Whitehead, a senior
engineer with RAND. “Orbital characteristics also depend on
Gordon Kordyak
“One of our core responsibilities in the U.S. Space Force is to
how dense an object is. So a piece of titanium may remain on
provide public services that facilitate the tracking of objects (be
orbit longer than a paint flake or a piece of Styrofoam moving
they natural or man-made) on orbit,” Kordyak added. “Tracking
initially at the same speed. There are lots of variables in terms of
these objects to minimize on-orbit collisions directly allows us to maximize the
Peter Whitehead
size, velocity, orbit and possible impact.”
lifespan of our high value space assets, regardless if they support the defense, civil,
commercial, or international communities.
“The times we would bring a piece of hardware back with the space shuttle, it
would have hundreds if not thousands of dents where it was bombarded with
“Understanding the pervasiveness and nature of on-orbit debris directly
small pieces of space debris,” said J.D. Harrington, public affairs officer for
influences our understanding of risk when operating in outer space,” Kordyak
NASA’s Orbital Debris Program Office.
said. “Even a small fleck of paint can cause damage to our satellites when it is
traveling a tens of thousands of miles an hour. While we do everything we can
In 2016, a 7 mm dent was discovered in one of the windows of the International
to provide systems that are capable enough to inform, and help avoid, the
Space Station and was thought to have been caused by a collision with a piece
many, many millions of debris objects in outer space, working to minimize the
of space debris — possibly a paint chip ̛ no more than a few thousands of a
amount of debris we create in the first place is a key strategy to keep the
millimeter across, according to NASA and the ESA.
different orbit regimes of outer space usable into the future.”
“Much of the space debris is in LEO where the relative orbital
The RAND Corporation, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research
velocities in a collision can be quite large. Thus, there’s a
organization, has established the Space Enterprise Initiative
much greater risk for two objects colliding to create a huge
to better connect space-related ideas and people. Four
fragmentation spray,” said Dr. Grant Stokes, head of the
RAND experts, including the organization’s Bruce
Space Systems and Technology Division at MIT-Lincoln
McClintock, public policy analyst and lead for the initiative,
Laboratory. “In geosynchronous orbit (GEO,) since most
recently discussed some of the public policy issues
things are orbiting in the same direction, the relative orbital
surrounding space debris.
velocities are generally much lower, so collisions are more
Bruce McClintock
Dr. Grant Stokes
likely to be akin to highway speed car crashes.”
The 2013 movie “Gravity” depicted a fictional catastrophic chain
event that begins when Russians shoot down a defunct satellite. This, in turn,
“It’s much less expensive to put something into a LEO because the fuel
sets off an expanding cloud of space debris that goes on to destroy a space
required to get it to that point in space is less than in most cases, for the same
shuttle, the Hubble Telescope and numerous communication satellites.
amount of weight,” McClintock said. “It’s also kind of a parking space issue —
While it’s not impossible for something like that to happen — NASA engineer
a LEO, based on the orbital mechanics, to perform missions than in GEO,
Don Kessler famously proposed a cascading,exponential debris effect from a
which requires more fuel to deliver the payload and is more carefully controlled.
both literally and figuratively. There are many more options where you can use
collision in LEO), the Kessler Syndrome, as early as 1978 — it probably would
take place over days or weeks, not hours, said Richard Mason, a senior
engineer at RAND who has done extensive space debris modeling.
MilsatMagazine
Page 51
March 2021
When it comes to planning a launch, “It’s relatively straightforward to plan for
Access these sites for additional information...
the items you know about, but there are plenty of items you don’t know about,”
USSF: Spacepower: Doctrine for Space Forces
McClintock said. “If everything is cataloged, then it’s just a math and
NASA Best Practices Handbook to Help Improve Space Safety
engineering problem, to plan around the things that are in the catalog; it’s not
much different than air traffic control.
U.S. Orbital Debris Mitigation Standard Practices
“The challenge is: there are a lot of things that are untracked, and that’s a risk
USCUSA UCS Satellite Database
you have to account for. It’s the air domain equivalent of a bird strike. You may
United Nations — Space Debris Mitigation Guidelines of the Committee on
have filed your flight plan, you may have planned for a place where there’s no
the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
activity, but then that random bolt that the astronaut let go or the paint flake that
https://www.space-track.org
is slowly degrading its orbital altitude ends up running into the platform.”
Then there are the legal issues. The global commons of
space is governed by five treaties including the United
Nations’ Outer Space Treaty, but there’s no enforcement
mechanism, said Doug Ligor, senior behavioral/social
scientist at RAND.
Doug Ligor
“One of the unique things about space is that everything you
send up, basically, the launching nation is responsible for,” Ligor said. “The
problem becomes when you send things up and they become debris, how do
you assess duty-and-care or liability to something you can’t identify? I don’t
know whose wrench that is, I don’t know who the bolt belongs to. If you do that
a thousand times over, it becomes a real problem.”
Currently, the focus is on mitigation of “new’ space debris, rather than
remediation of existing debris, Stokes said. “When a LEO satellite nears the
end of its life, its operators may fire rockets to slow it down so it can fall to
earth and burn up in earth’s atmosphere. Satellites at the end of their useful life
in GEO orbits are often boosted to a higher, graveyard orbit to free up valuable
space real estate. However, objects in the graveyard orbit could potentially stay
up there for thousands of years. While this is not a problem now, it could be in
the future.”
Companies and governments globally recognize that space debris is a growing
problem, as evidenced by increased emphasis on debris mitigation standards
and business case analyses generated by companies looking to either
generate debris removal systems or field systems that can extend the life of
satellites on orbit, McClintock said.
For example, ESA’s ClearSpace-1 project is planning to launch a
demonstration project in 2025 to remove an item of space debris in LEO,
Whitehead said. Solar sails that would deploy and take a defunct satellite out of
GEO and into a graveyard orbit are another option.
“The challenge in space is that one man’s debris removal platform is another’s
anti-satellite weapon,” McClintock added. “Because if your robotic satellite can
go up there with an arm and grab a piece of space junk and then descend into
a lower orbit, the same piece of equipment could be used — in theory —– to
disrupt an active satellite. It’s more than a matter of ‘Well, we need to buy a
fleet of trash trucks for space.’”
MilsatMagazine
Page 52
March 2021