The lines between military and commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) are beginning to blur, and an increasing number of U.S. Department of Defense organizations are taking a closer look at how to deploy commercial capabilities into an operational environment where availability, reliability, resilience and assuredness of connectivity are paramount.
The number of available heterogeneous geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellite options and non-GEO constellations is growing dramatically along with requirements that enable simultaneous access across multiple orbits and networks.
In contrast, expeditionary users desire to deploy with less infrastructure, thus cloud-native applications are becoming tremendously important, according to Matt Nearpass, L3Harris Product Management director.
Recognizing the need for enhanced resiliency, efficiency and multiple communication pathways, L3Harris Technologies, in close collaboration with SES Space & Defense and Comtech Telecommunications Corp., is embedding O3b mPOWER capability into its proven very small aperture terminals (VSATs). This solution delivers multi-orbit SATCOM across medium earth orbit (MEO) and GEO with transmission security (TRANSEC) – all from a single terminal.
MEO satellite constellations provide operators with key advantages, including low-latency and uncontended capacity, extreme data throughput capabilities and orbital resilience, Nearpass said. These features allow users to respond quickly and reliably adapt to dynamic mission requirements and access their cloud-native applications in expeditionary operating environments.
Targeting solutions that provide high-capacity and low-latency makes SES’s second-generation MEO constellation, O3b mPOWER, an ideal choice, offering high-speed, low-latency and uncontended connectivity, he added.
The Power of mPOWER
L3Harris Technologies will be an early supplier of O3b mPOWER certified terminals, supporting the DOD and NATO partners’ use of the MEO Global Services (mGS) contract recently awarded to SES. The mGS contract leverages SES’s O3b mPOWER network to provide critical non-GEO SATCOM services to the United States and NATO allies.
MEO Global Services provides customers the flexibility to leverage their own waveforms and technologies – including antennas, terrestrial networking capabilities and secure posture, among others – without being required to use specific commercial terminals.
“When combined with O3b mPOWER, the L3Harris Panther™ II VSAT will be amongst the smallest, lightest and fastest sub-1-meter solution to deliver mGS network connectivity,” Nearpass said, noting Panther II is the first tactical terminal with mPOWER embedded for use on the mGS network. “In support of U.S. Space Force’s Fighting SATCOM vision, we are leaning forward and driving innovation in multi-orbit capabilities and resiliency into our products. The implementation of O3b mPOWER technology is key to achieving this milestone.”
Enhanced SATCOM Reach and Resiliency
Military organizations, particularly the U.S. Army, are advancing toward delivering robust SATCOM on-the-move capabilities and seek a reduction in terminal size and weight to enhance modularity and transportability, as well as other requirements ensuring faster, more assured connectivity across various satellite constellations, according to Zsanette McKinney, L3Harris Account Management lead.
While the O3b mPOWER was specifically designed for government mission partners at the tactical edge, L3Harris capabilities add a variety of other resilient benefits to the solution beyond the multi-orbit connections.
Enhanced Capabilities with Reduced Complexity
L3Harris has a wide library of resilient SATCOM waveforms to sense the environment and optimize connectivity, as well as protected modems, including the Multi-Constellation Modem (MCM) and Air Force and Army Anti-Jam Modem (A3M), McKinney said. Additionally, L3Harris VSATs are designed to reduce time and complexity. Individual software and hardware can be swapped out without disrupting or modifying surrounding components, adding to their modularity, platform versatility, adaptability and transportability.
“Our design approach supports capability enhancements with reduced complexity so that soldiers continue to have the best pathways to resilient communications without having to slow down to complete their objectives,” she said.
Enabling O3b mPOWER with L3Harris Panther™ II, Hawkeye 4 and Hawkeye 4 Lite terminals simply requires a modem module or outdoor unit (ODU) swap – without requiring any cables to do so, McKinney added. The interfaces and dashboards remain the same, providing added ease of use from both deployability and user experience standpoints.
