Iridium’s constellation
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Most of us remember Iridium as the Motorola-backed, multi-billion dollar commercial satellite phone flop. The expensive, bulky phones, the $2 per minute airtime charge, and the inability to use the phone inside buildings doomed the project, which came online when the cell phone market was taking off.

Despite all these problems, the US military found the phones useful in remote areas with no cell phone coverage and few buildings, such as Iraq and Afghanistan. So DoD backed an effort for the constellation to be acquired by investors at a fraction of the original investment, and DoD became the revived satellite company’s largest customer.

In 2007, Iridium Satellite undertook an effort to develop a second-generation satellite constellation called Iridium NEXT. Expected to be ready in 2014, Iridium NEXT will offer higher data speeds, flexible bandwidth allocation, and IP-based routing. Iridium recently awarded a contract to Hughes Network Systems, a supplier of Iridium handsets and terminals, to develop the access network controller for the Iridium NEXT ground control network…

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DSP Satellite
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Major update to the article, which now offers a complete timeline and new materials. (Feb 5/10)

The USA’s “SBIRS High” missile launch early-warning satellites, which aim to replace the existing DSP fleet, have been facing
ongoing project issues. Massive cost overruns, technical challenges that continue to present problems, and uncertain performance all factor into the equation. Yet their mission – to detect ballistic missile launches and so serve as the critical first stage of the USA’s national early warning system – is too critical to abandon. What to do?

While some progress has been made on SBIRS-High, the search for alternative technologies is now well underway in a program called AIRSS the Alternate InfraRed Satellite System, also known as 3GIRS (3rd Generation Infrared Surveillance). The effort progressed well, but despite good performance and cost-effective development, the program is facing its end in the FY 2011 budget…

• For Every Action… SBIRS-High From $4B to $10+B
• Reaction: AIRSS & the “Full-Earth Sharing Sensor Assembly” [updated]
• AIRSS/3GIRS Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings [updated]
  
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GPS IIIA concept
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$75.9 million to Boeing to support GPS III precursor. (Feb 5/10)

DID’s FOCUS articles offer in-depth, updated looks at significant military programs of record. It’s hard to be more significant than the USA’s Global Positioning System (GPS), which is widely relied upon for civilian uses, including timing services for stock trades and credit card processing. At the same time, military class (M-code) GPS guidance can now be found in everything from cruise missiles and various precision-guided bombs, to battlefield rockets and even artillery shells. Combat search and rescue radios use it, and so does a broadening array of individual soldier’s equipment. Disruption or decay of of the the critical capabilities provided by this line of communication in space would cripple both the US military, and many aspects of the global economy.

GPS-III satellites are a key part of this PTN (Positioning, Timing & Navigation) system’s future plan, offering several improvements over the existing GPS II family. When fully deployed, the current vision for GPS-III is that the new satellites will feature a new L1C civil signal; a cross-linked command and control architecture that allows the entire GPS constellation to be updated from a single ground station; and a spot beam antenna that provides resistance to hostile military jamming while improving accuracy and integrity. GPS III will also have limited interoperability with Europe’s ongoing Galileo GPS-type satellite constellation, per a 2006 agreement involving Lockheed Martin and EADS.

The latest additions include significantly upgraded background and contract information, GAO worries about the USAF’s ability to sustain its GPS capabilities if GPS IIF and IIIA encounter delays, and possible congressional funding cuts for GPS-III’s critical next-generation ground control segment…

• The Existing Array
• The GPS III Program
• Contracts and Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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DMSP: points of light
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Military commanders have always been subject to the whims of mother nature. Napoleon’s attempt to take Moscow stalled in the bitter cold and snow of the Russian winter. The D-Day invasion was postponed because of a poor weather forecast.

To better predict the weather, the US Department of Defense began an effort in the 1960s called the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) to use satellites to monitor weather from space. Data from DMSP satellites are used for strategic and tactical weather prediction to aid the US military in planning operations at sea, on land and in the air.

The aging DMSP is being replaced by the National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS); however, that system is $3 billion over budget and is not expected to be ready until 2012. In the meantime, DMSP replacement satellites are being launched to keep the system functioning. On Oct 18/09, the DMSP F-18 satellite was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. 2 more DMSP satellites – F-19 and F-20 – are expected to be launched before the program ends…

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Boeing gets $21 million contract to integrate, test, and store the 1.5 ship-sets of the WGS xenon-ion propulsion system. (Jan 29/10)

The WGS program is actually a set of 13-kilowatt spacecraft based upon Boeing’s model 702 commercial satellite. These satellites will support the USA’s warfighting bandwidth requirements, supporting tactical C4ISR (command, control, communications, and computers; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance); battle management; and combat support needs. The program name has been changed for some reason from “Wideband Gapfiller Satellite” to “Wideband Global SATCOM,” presumably to avoid the (correct) suggestion that it fills an emerging gap. Readers should be aware that references to either title in documents, archives, or the media denote the same program.

Upon its first launch into geosynchronous orbit, WGS Flight 1 became the U.S. Department of Defense’s highest capacity communication satellite. This is DID’s FOCUS Article covering the WGS program…

• WGS: Capabilities & Role
• The WGS Program & Schedule [updated]
• WGS Program: Contracts & Key Events [updated]
• Additional Readings
  
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PNP Satellite Concept
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The era of the huge military satellite programs that cost tens of billions of dollars appears to be over. At least as far as the US Congress is concerned. Last year, lawmakers shut down the $20 billion plus Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) System program after huge costs overruns and skepticism about the system’s unproven technology.

At the same time, the US Air Force is moving ahead with development of small satellites that can be developed quickly in response to tactical needs and launched within days. These small satellites would be constructed using preexisting modules to meet the communications and ISR needs of commanders in the field. They are called plug-and-play (PNP) satellites and are being developed by the US Air Force Research Lab (AFRL).

AFRL recently awarded a contract worth up to $200 million for work on the PNP satellite architecture…

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Intelsat satellite
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In the early weeks of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the US military satellite communications capacity was overwhelmed by the demand from US troops for satellite bandwidth to transmit voice and data communication. In response, the US military dramatically increased its use of commercial satellite capacity to meet the explosion of demand.

A study by the Satellite Industry Association found that 80% of all US military satellite communication during the Iraq invasion was carried on commercial satellites. Then-US assistant secretary of defense for networks and information integration, John P. Stenbit, estimated that the US military purchased between $200 million and $300 million worth of commercial satellite services during the first year of the war.

Recognizing the military’s reliance on commercial satellites, the US Navy undertook an effort, called the Commercial Broadband Satellite Program (CBSP), to develop and deploy satellite communication terminals specifically designed to increase the Navy’s commercial satellite communications capability…

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NPOESS (click to view full)

Latest update covers events from 2007 to January 2010.

The National Polar-orbiting Observing Satellite System (NPOESS) is a joint program of the Department of Defense, Department of Commerce and the NASA that will help develop 3-7 day weather forecasts for civilian and military purposes, replacing less sophisticated satellites that are expected to fail over the next several years. Those forecasts include weather like hurricanes, tornadoes, etc. Unfortunately, it now appears that NPOESS could be as much as $3 billion over budget, and that it is not expected to be launched until 2012 – 3 years later than the previous program plan, and at least 6 years later than earlier projections. Some gaps in coverage are possible during that time, if enough older satellites fail.

In November 2005 testimony given at a House of Congress Science Committee hearing, the Administrator of NOAA and the Undersecretary of the Air Force promised new cost and schedule estimates and policy options, as well as fuller and more rapid information. Nor are these the only changes underway in NPOESS, which was openly described as “a program in crisis.” Now, there are even rumors that the Pentagon may pull out of the program.

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Satcom Teleport Certification
at Ramstein Air Base
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Rockwell Collins received a 3-year, $9.1 million contract to provide maintenance and field service support for the satellite communications teleport at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. A teleport is a group of satellite dishes that connect communications satellites with the ground telecom network.

The delivery order calls for Rockwell Collins to provide maintenance services for the teleport along with providing remote monitoring of US convoys in Iraq. The teleport will be supported by 9 field service engineers.

Program Manager WIN-T’s Commercial SATCOM Terminal Program at the US Army Communications-Electronics Command in Fort Monmouth, NJ, awarded the delivery order through Rockwell Collins’ Worldwide Satellite Systems contract…

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SBSS Constellation
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In January 2001, a commission headed by then US Defense Secretary-designate Donald Rumsfeld warned about a possible “space Pearl Harbor” in which a potential enemy would launch a surprise attack against US-based military space assets, disabling them. These assets include communications satellites and the GPS system, which is crucial for precision attack missiles and a host of military systems.

“The US is more dependent on space than any other nation. Yet the threat to the US and its allies in and from space does not command the attention it merits,” the commission warned.

One of the systems that grew out of the commission’s report was the Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) project, which is developing a constellation of satellites to provide the US military with space situational awareness using visible sensors. Recent developments for the project include a $30 million contract for Boeing to provide maintenance and operations services for the SBSS logistics infrastructure.

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