U.S. Military Satcom System Need Critical Overhaul

SPACEWAR

The Air Force is kicking off a major transformation of its military satellite system that will include the use of laser beams to carry vast amounts of data, while enabling laptop computers and other small ground receivers to communicate with a larger variety of satellites.

New York - Jan. 21, 2002
The U.S. military communications satellite system and the small satellite receivers used by American forces to talk with each other are in critical need of overhaul to enable U.S. troops to fight the war on terrorism, Aviation Week & Space Technology reports in its January 21 issue.

"We have reached the limits of what we can do with the satellite communications architecture that we have today," said Christine M. Anderson who heads the military satellite communications program office for the U. S. Air Force.

"We are now fighting a different kind of war and our military communications need to take that into account," Anderson told AW&ST.

The military satcom network is literally the "central nervous system" for global U.S. military operations.

But the current system, designed during the Cold War, is not optimized for the kind of communications the U.S. needs to operate new unmanned reconnaissance drones and allow American troops to communicate with coalition forces, AW&ST reported.

To correct the deficiencies, the Air Force is kicking off a major transformation of the military satellite system that will include the use of laser beams to carry vast amounts of information, the magazine said.

The initiative will also focus on enabling laptop computers and other small ground receivers to communicate with a larger variety of satellites.

AW&ST said the project will affect the course of billions of dollars in U.S. military satellite communications development for years to come. "A leap in capability is required," according to an Air Force Space Command announcement to the aerospace industry seeking ideas for the project.

The Army, Navy and Marine Corps will be involved and NASA, the civilian space agency, will also provide expertise to the project.

SPACEWAR

Titan 4 Lofts Milstar: Defense Orbital Switchboard Now Complete

Cape Canaveral - Jan 16, 2002
A U.S. Air Force military communications satellite was launched Tuesday evening at 7.30pm Eastern from Cape Canaveral aboard a Titan 4. Final confirmation of a safe delivery of the $800 million Milstar 5 to GEO came early Wednesday morning after several burns by the Centaur upper stage.

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.