U.S. Space Force lays out a SATCOM vision for maintaining communications in degraded, limited environments

Feb. 28, 2020
Space Force also will develop a flexible modem interface standard to enable that kind of satellite roaming at the heart of the new vision.

WASHINGTON – The U.S. Space Force released its new Enterprise SATCOM Vision Feb. 19, formally laying out a desire for a single satellite communication architecture that is capable of keeping warfighters connected even in contested, degraded, and operationally limited environments. C4ISRnet reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

28 Feb. 2020 -- Under this SATCOM vision, military and commercial satellite providers would be integrated, allowing warfighters to switch seamlessly to whatever network or signal is available while maintaining connectivity.

The Space Force refers to this approach to maintaining communications even in degraded or contested environments as “Fighting SATCOM,” and the nascent service has asked for $43 million in research, development, test & evaluation funding to develop the Fighting SATCOM Enterprise in its budget request for fiscal year 2021. Such a system does not exist today.

Under the new vision, all SATCOM requirements collection, planning, allocation, and operational management processes will be brought under a single command to exploit efficiencies and improve situational awareness. The Chief of Space Operations will provide enterprise SATCOM capabilities to the head of U.S. Space Command.

Related: Electronics in space: traditional market faces-off against new space

Related: RF and microwave equipment: tackling the interference problem

Related: DARPA asks for unmanned surface warships, rugged electronics, with no accommodation for human presence

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics

Voice your opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Military Aerospace, create an account today!