[Satellite TODAY 12-18-12] X-band satellite operator XTAR has spent the last 18 months retooling and reconfiguring its infrastructure to provide a whole new world of potential for bandwidth. Why? As XTAR Vice President of Global Sales and Marketing Andrew Ruszkowski explained, the operator foresaw the need for its satellite business to adapt and move away from its traditionally reliable markets.
   “At the time I came onboard the company, we quickly identified that XTAR had a substantial amount of risk associated with traditional satellite-related business that remains robust as long as fiber doesn’t arrive to those markets,” Ruszkowski told SatelliteTODAY.
   These traditional businesses include trunking, point-to-point and other pipe services and applications. Knowing the market was bound to change, Ruszkowski and the XTAR tried to identify new, “stickier” satellite markets where X-band could make a difference.
   “Airborne intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (AISR) was one market that jumped out at us rather quickly,” said Ruszkowski.
   XTAR has acquired a significant segment of the AISR market over the last year under various contracts valued at over $8 million and more than 100 MHz of bandwidth. The operator now provides high-powered X-band capacity via its payloads on the XTAR-LANT and XTAR-EUR satellites, which were designed to support critical services on manned aircraft using advanced antennas designed specifically for airborne applications. The capacity aims to provide service extending from North and South America to Africa and the Middle East.
   To capture this new AISR business, XTAR embarked on an 18-month strategy to shift the company’s infrastructure to a configuration that would enable the advanced applications necessary for today’s warfighter.
   “What we did was look at the configuration of our satellites and made some changes by pushing the ‘hot’ spot-beams out and away from North America and Europe, which facilitated an infrastructure arrangement with large hub antennas set up and connected by a global beam to spot beams in regions such as Africa, Afghanistan and South America,” said Ruszkowski. “That has proved to be a very good move in supporting our AISR applications. We have a very small antenna in those regions that are connected to a very large hub antenna.”
   A subsequent step for XTAR was focusing on making it easier for customers to access its space segment through its hub and teleport sites. While doing this, the operator encouraged owners of both commercial and government antennas to point them at XTAR capacity. The goal of this task, according to Ruszkowski, was to overcome limitations that users were experiencing and to develop a robust list of commercial and government antennas that are looking at XTAR spacecraft.
   “We also sought out end-users that were bringing online the kinds of applications we were searching for and talking to them about the unique capabilities of XTAR and particularly the value that they can gain by using X-band.” he said. “Again, at the top of that list were airborne applications.”
   While high-throughput Ku-band and the newer spot-beam Ka-band systems are trying to grab attention, XTAR is trying to use its new identity to shift some of that attention back onto the potential of X-band. Ruszkowski believes that X-band is the ideal frequency band for airborne applications because it is able to achieve high-throughput like Ku-band, while maintaining a resistance to interference and rain-fade like C-band.
   “On top of that, the X-band constellation, by virtue of the greater spacing between the satellites, has a lower risk of adjacent satellite interference,” said Ruszkowski. “This really allows systems that are necessary for Airborne antennas to operate to drive much more power with X-band than in other bandwidths. I was surprised by the X-band constellation could do for airborne antennas users. In some cases, we have customers who are driving 10 megabits worth of data off of an aircraft. That kind of power facilitates an amazing video or sensor experience for the end-user.”
   XTAR is also using its focus on the airborne market as a way to lower the risk of impact that looming government budget cuts could have on the satellite market. While no operator and service provider is invincible from the cost-cutting process, Ruszkowski said XTAR is extremely confident in the bet it has placed on airborne and other mobile applications.
   “Relying on those traditional satellite applications is a much riskier bet,” he said. “We now have a better feel for the market who is using or looking to use airborne systems. It is, for sure, a growing demand driver.”
   Ruszkowski also noted that this “safe bet” also includes plays on both the military manned and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) markets. The differences between the two markets, he said, are dependent on the requirements of a specific mission. “It is all about who is involved in the decision-making process during a mission,” he said. “Will the decision on how much bandwidth is needed be made on the aircraft, or halfway around the world? Both structures work great, but each mission has different, unique requirements. Right now, the manned aerial vehicle market is dynamic because there are technological developments being made for those types of aircraft. While we are looking to capitalize on that dynamic, we are also looking to expand our presence in the UAV world.”
   When asked if XTAR’s infrastructure revamp includes new spacecraft – or, a third satellite to add to its constellation – Ruszkowski said that XTAR currently has a sufficient amount of capacity available to customers, but did not rule out growth as part of its strategy. “We’re tracking a number of different paths to capacity growth,” he said. “We hope that in the near future, we’ll have a lot more to talk about potential new spacecraft.”