Leveraging Emerging Satellite Constellations for Air Force Applications

Comsat Architects proposes to demonstrate the feasibility of high data rate communication services provided by emerging NGSO satellite constellations for the United States Air Force unmanned and manned vehicles applications. This work will be achieved by performing extensive system analysis and modeling inclusive of NGSO networks and Air Force vehicles. To accomplish this, Comsat Architects will: 1) identify the key physical and network architecture components; 2) perform modeling and simulation analysis of mobility, coverage, and capacity; 3) identify hardware, software, data interfaces, security, and information assurance; and 4) produce a plan for the Phase II demonstration of the identified application(s)/service(s). In order to design a successful mobile communication architecture based on the Air Force requirements for surveillance and reconnaissance in combat situations, we will address these key challenges: security encryption of voice and data; increase data speeds from the legacy VHF systems of less than 25 Kbps to higher data rates beyond 10 Mbps for the new Ka-band systems; resistance to jamming, spoofing and other purposeful interference; size reduction of avionics and terminals to reduce the mass and footprint of the electronics; and surveillance and navigation functions for triangulation of mobile vehicles.