Satellite Industry, Government Would Benefit from Better Communication, Says Inmarsat Executive
The military and commercial satellite operators need to improve communications and planning to make sure Defense Department satellite requirements don’t “outstrip” the available capacity, said Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, president of Inmarsat Government Services. Reactive leasing by the government leaves industry and military needs out of sync, she said at the Washington Space Business Roundtable Thursday. There has been an “awakening” in recent months in the defense environment that things need to change and discussion has increased in recent months on how to break down the “impediments” to effective satellite communications policy, Cowen-Hirsch said.
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A better indication to industry from the military about its predicted requirements would help with governmental budgeting and planning, Cowen-Hirsch said. That would mean less speculation from the industry side on where capacity is needed and what kind of services will be in high demand, she said. Such “non-binding” information would help both sides provide satellite connectivity with room for data surge situations when necessary, she said. Currently, Defense Department personnel are sometimes wary of disclosing specific needs too far in advance because once the needs are announced, work starts on finding funding to procure the capabilities, she said. Ongoing dialog on increasing the information flow has been “positive,” she said.
Inmarsat’s move toward Ka-band services is more customer driven than technology driven, Cowen-Hirsch said. The company recently said it would buy three Ka-band satellites from Boeing as part of a $1.2 billion investment to develop a global network in the band called Global Xpress (CD Aug 9 p9) or (SW Aug 9 p1). Government users are hoped to make up more than 40 percent of the constellation’s users, the company has said. The focus in deploying a new network was mobility and flexibility rather than achieving the “highest throughput imaginable,” said Cowen-Hirsch.
The new satellite network will stay in line with the company’s heritage as a mobile provider, Cowen-Hirsch said. The Ka-band service will complement its L-band services, allowing Inmarsat to be more flexible in the services it provides, she said. For Inmarsat, the expansion to Ka-band was “all about maintaining” a relationship with the “end users,” she said. The Ka-band satellites, known as the Inmarsat-5 constellation, have room for hosted payloads, though hosting the payloads isn’t necessary for the business model, said Cowen Hirsch.