The U.S. Department of Defense has not outlined its commercial Ka-band requirements, The Pentagon also does not have a commercial Ku-band requirement, and the military relies on commercial Ku-band for more than 80 percent of its total capacity supporting battle theatre operations in Southeast Asia.
    With several military programs intended to replace Ku-band capabilities with Ka-band, Inmarsat President of Global Government Services Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch leads Inmarsat’s efforts on a $1.2 billion program to launch three Ka-band satellites that will be used to operate Inmarsat’s Global Xpress service beginning in 2014. Inmarsat hopes to generate $500 million of annual government Ka-band revenues five years after global service launch. However, Hirsch has identified a major problem on the ground — Ka-band terminal technology has fallen behind the capability of the available Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) space segment.
    Hirsch discusses Inmarsat’s efforts to form strategic partnerships with Ka-band terminal manufacturers and why flexible capabilities are crucial to the warfighter.

Via Satellite: What is the state of the military Ka-band ecosystem?

Hirsch: The military requirement for Ka-band frequencies is driven by the availability of the WGS space segment that is operating in both X- and Ka-band. There are three satellites in orbit right now, with another to launch in the December timeframe. On the ground segment, the Ka-band terminals are expected to be able to take advantage of WGS. However, ground terminals being fielded today are slowly progressing through the programmatic timeline, which is in typical fashion with U.S. Department of Defense programs. Unfortunately, this means the terminal segment lags woefully behind the availability of the space segment. Despite the fact that the space segment has given the ground segment all of the opportunities it needs to catch up with delays.

Via Satellite: What specific terminal capabilities are falling behind the space segment?

Hirsch: The ability to switch between commercial Ka-band and military Ka-band on a single terminal [is behind]. If you look at the scope of which commercial Ku-band is used in the military and the programs that are in place to swap out Ku-band for Ka-band in battle theater environments, it becomes logical to view this capability as critical.
    Military and commercial Ka-band frequencies are adjacent to each other. Military Ka-band is 30 gigahertz up and 20 gigahertz down. Right now, there are no operational terminals or terminals being fielded that are able to tune between the adjacent military and commercial Ka-band frequencies.

Via Satellite: What is causing this lag between WGS and its Ka-band ground segment?

Hirsch: It is because of typically slow military acquisition processes. Programs also are delayed because of, in some cases, technical difficulties, and in other cases, budgetary restrictions. In all cases, this causes the ground to fall behind the fielding schedule.
    The problem with the current terminal programs in the Department of Defense is that they are run separately from the satellite programs and within their own timeline, costing and schedules — unlike how a commercial company would put a new constellation on orbit, where an entire system of systems is developed, including the satellites, the ground segment as well as terminals. We put this all in place to make sure we have a complete functioning system from end-to-end. 
    Also, military satellites are purchased in one program mechanism, and terminals are acquired in a completely separate program stream. The two programs or funding schedules aren’t intentionally synchronized or even reviewed as a system of systems. They are separate entities. When one schedule goes divergent from another, you can’t harmonize them.

Via Satellite: What needs to be done to the ground terminals to make them able to switch between military and commercial Ka-band?

Hirsch: While it’s not as simple as putting in a new switch or a dial, it is not expensive and it does not involve leading-edge technology. It is infinitely doable. It simply requires planning up-front. For example, we’ve had discussions with aeronautical terminal manufacturers on these capabilities, and some of the solutions are simple. They need to ensure that the radome is tuned properly. The need to make sure that the radio frequencies are tuned properly and that the front end of the antenna and the RF portion of the terminals can allow tuning to different frequencies.

Via Satellite: Did you account for these issues when you outlined your Global Xpress strategy?

Hirsch: We specifically focused on creating a rich ecosystem of terminals. We’re not only focused on commercial Ka-band and utilization of our global beams but also on the defense sector, where a lot of our business will come from. We want to ensure that the terminals and their users can take the greatest advantage of the owned and organic WGS satellite capability as well as other augmentation capabilities, including Global Xpress.

Via Satellite: What has been the response from terminal manufacturers on this capability idea?

Hirsch: We are now developing strategic relationships with terminal manufacturers to ensure that there will be terminals available for acquisition and purchase. We have had very strong receptiveness and high interest from across the terminal industry in this objective. Discussions are progressing, as terminal manufacturers are extremely positive towards the idea of serving two markets with a single Ka-band terminal.

Via Satellite: What is the military’s response?

Hirsch: For the military, discussions are beginning, and at the operation level there is significant receptiveness. At the policy level, there is conceptual receptiveness. The most difficult challenge is the program level, and there has not been as much traction, yet, but we’re getting there and making progress. As with all commercial communications and technology discussions with the military, these things take time.