Satellite communications are in flux today. The government mannedhas no manned space programs in place and is relying heavily on industry to meet space and satellite needs. Competition is building across the industry and now private companies are looking to government to set the tone by establishing a framework for evolving requirements in satcom.
This aura of uncertainty hovers against a backdrop of Defense Department efforts to align its own space and satcom programs, reconciling issues such as aging hardware and the need for heightened security.
Deputy Defense Secretary Robert Work laid out the situation in a September internal memo outlining the findings of a Space Strategic Portfolio Review that revealed space’s role as more specifically on a war footing.
“The [review’s] unifying theme was the department needed to pursue better understanding and integration of space threats and capabilities into its war fighting plans and operations and avoid any actions that created a space ‘stovepipe,’” Work wrote. “This theme drove multiple changes in areas of space operations, programming, capabilities and governance.”
The memo offered a far-reaching view of potential space activities. It described a vision of an experimental operational platform, and issued a call to increase visibility in investments. Given the highly competitive nature of the industry, the memo put forth a demand for faster acquisition and an overhaul in how space programs are governed.
The document lays out a series of structural changes meant to reposition satellite programs. It creates a new principal DoD space adviser and increases the role of key agencies including the Defense Information Systems Agency.
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In the private sector, meanwhile, executives are trying to get a handle on just what it is the government needs. “What the government has to do is determine what goes to their inherent capabilities — which is really just DoD’s Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system — and what is not able to be satisfied on their systems,” said Jeff Rowlison, vice president for government affairs at SES Government Solutions. “And that’s where our industry, and SES-GS specifically, have made a robust name for ourselves. We’re able to quickly, and in an innovative, more cost-effective manner, satisfy those requirements.”
