The second annual Hosted Payload Summit gave military and government organizations a chance to show commercial military satellite providers how much work they have done on their end to further the business relationship between the public and private sector. New hosted payload activities, initiatives and milestones by the Hosted Payload Alliance, DARPA and the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Command (SMC) center took center stage as a primary example of how this relationship has progressed during the past few years.
   Douglas Loverro, the Executive Director of the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center and senior civilian executive then gave a keynote speech that highlighted the 10 most important events for hosted payloads in 2012. The first of those events was U.S. President Barack Obama’s full-year 2013 budget released in February 2012. “What was significant about this was that there were dollars specifically outlined in the budget to continue work on hosted payloads,” said Loverro.
   Other events included: the release of NSR’s second edition of its Hosted Payloads on Commercial Satellites report; the formation of the SMC hosted payload office, which outlines a hosted payload cost model; CHIRP+, protected milsatcom and military weather BAAs; the first unclassified CHIRP imagery; the 2014 draft defense planning guides; the NASA and Loral deal on Hosted Payload terminals; and the announcement of the SMC hosted payload ID/IQ contract, which Loverro referred to as “the first step in moving toward a normal, accessible and repeatable hosted payload arrangement, which is expected in the next six to nine months,” he said.
   Loverro also noted a couple of negatives that happened for hosted payloads, such as the low marks the CHIRP+ payload received from the HAC-D congressional committee and the failure to find a deal between Iridium and the government on hosted payloads. “Hosted payloads not only saw progress through its successes, but also through its failures,” Loverro told attendees. “In the case of Iridium, we just couldn’t make it work, but it also showed us how we can make it work. The low HAC-D marks shows us that not everyone in Congress has bought into the hosted payload concept.”
   The Hosted Payload Summit was split into five sessions. The first focused on lessons that the commercial satellite industry learned from public-private partnerships executed with international governments. The panel focused on Intelsat’s hosted payload project with the Australian Defense Force (ADF), which operates a UHF payload on the Intelsat 22 satellite.
   Intelsat General Vice President of Hosted Payload Programs Don Brown gave attendees two pieces of advice when trying to find hosted payload business. “The first is that you have to articulate a viable commercial model and approach to hosted payloads with your customer,” said Brown. “The second is never lean forward on a commercially hosted payload for government use.” 
   DARPA Phoenix Program Manager Dave Barnhart gave the event’s keynote luncheon speech and provided a visual tour through the agency’s latest technological discoveries.
   In order to repurpose valuable components such as antennas, the Phoenix will attach small satellites, or “satlets,” onto non-working spacecraft to take control of their components and give them new operational life. SS/L will study how to carry these satlets to orbit by giving them a ride on large commercial GEO satellites. Barnhart said the vision for this solution is for satlets to be packaged in multiples in a payload orbital delivery system (PODS).
   “After one of the PODS is dispensed, it will be met by a robotic vehicle designed to retrieve the satlets and attach them to the repurposed components,” Barnhart told attendees. “Ridesharing on large commercial spacecraft is an ideal way to bring the Phoenix satlets to GEO at major savings, compared to dedicated launches. The results of our studies will provide the needed specifics on the most effective ways to accomplish that.”
   The DARPA Phoenix program plans to demonstrate this capability in space between 2015 and 2016.
   “When a GEO communication satellite fails, it is traditionally moved into a graveyard orbit where it remains indefinitely,” Barnhart said, noting that the Super GEO orbit could be used to access these satellites. “Many of the satellites which are obsolete or have failed still have usable antennas, solar arrays and other components which are expected to last much longer than the life of the satellite, but currently there is no way to re-use them. DARPA pioneered on-orbit satellite servicing with the successful 2007 Orbital Express demonstrator mission. Future widespread pursuit of on-orbit satellite servicing would benefit from discussions regarding the broad spectrum of technical challenges and non-technical obstacles ranging from policy, legal and other constraints that may hamper progress in this field.”
   Barnhart explained how his agency had been seeking technical expertise to design a payload orbital delivery system and how governments can take advantage of the growing hosted payloads market. DARPA recently selected Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to analyze and define aspects of its Phoenix program that are focused on repurposing non-working GEO satellites.
   “In concert with the global space community and our international partners, we hope to create innovative technologies and techniques for space-to-space activities,” Barnhart said. “If successful, re-using existing satellite components may not only dramatically lower the cost of GEO satellite missions for the U.S. Department of Defense’s needs, but may also serve to demonstrate, through advanced techniques and technology, a model for future on-orbit servicing activities.”
   The keynote lunch was followed by the event’s military forum, which evaluated how hosted payloads could best be utilized as military and government satcom alternatives.
   Joseph Vanderpoorten, Technical Director of the U.S. Air Force’s MILSATCOM Advanced Concept Group noted that the U.S. Department of Defense could spend as much as $1 billion over the next 10 years to piggyback its communications onto hosted payloads featured on commercial satellites, as confirmed by U.S. Air Force officials earlier this year.
   SES Government Solutions Director of Hosted Payloads Rich Pang and Vizada President Bob Baker both asserted that hosted payloads have proven themselves as a valuable satcom options and are increasingly being considered by the military to reduce costs, by transitioning some of its applications to commercially hosted payloads versus other alternatives as well as which applications would be best suited for a potential transition.