Budget Woes Mean Changing World for Hosted Payloads
Recent efforts in Washington to reduce government spending have led to another barrier to a wide-scale use of hosting of government payloads on commercial satellites, panelists said Tuesday at the Hosted Payload Summit in Washington. While hosted payloads have long been touted as a cost-saving tool, some satellite operators have had trouble making that point because hosted payloads are considered “something separate” and extra, said Rich Pang, director of hosted payloads at SES Government Solutions. It’s common to hear from the government that there’s “no new money,” he said.
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Budget constraints also result in a strengthened sales pitch and a new opportunity, said Vice President Paul Bush of Telesat. During times of budget cuts, commercial operators can offer to put their own capital up for the short term to fund the hosted payload, he said. Operators can say to the government “use our balance sheets,” he said.
Employment numbers are also a consideration as the government considers its satellite needs, said Andrew Ruszkowski, Xtar vice president. The savings offered by the hosted payloads is countered by cuts in employment needs, he said. “Efficient satellite operators don’t fair well in terms of employment numbers” compared to separate government systems, he said. The jobs argument doesn’t hold much water, said Don Brown, vice president of hosted payload programs at Intelsat General. Hosted payloads allow for the spread of the industrial base, he said.
The government acquisition process needs some new budgetary and contractual leadership, said Brown. The process for commercial acquisition greatly reduces the need for governmental oversight, he said. Commercial operators are beholden to shareholders and the whole objective is to get the satellite up and operational as quickly and effectively as possible, he said. “Use that leverage.” The oversight processes that often can delay the addition of a hosted payload is a largely unnecessary taxpayer expense, he said.
While hosted payloads have gained much attention in recent years, getting the timing down has been a barrier to frequent successful pairings, said Ruszkowski. The addition of Defense Department payloads don’t add much more risk to satellites from enemies than carrying DOD transmissions, said Bush. “We already carry a fair amount of military traffic today” so it isn’t clear why a military payload would increase the risk to a satellite, he said.