SATMAGAZINE WORLDWIDE SATELLITE MAGAZINE JULY/AUGUST 2020
←
→
Page content transcription
If your browser does not render page correctly, please read the page content below
Worldwide Satellite Magazine
SatMagazine July/August 2020
Cover image of the space debris field is
courtesy of the Space Data Association.
Can you feel what fast internet is?
500Mbps 750Mbps
100Mbps 1Gbps
50Mbps 1.46Gbps
SBM-90X Modem
No speed limit !
Info@spacebridge.com
Radeus Labs
8200 Legacy ACU
The Only Tool
You'll Need.
Installation is that simple.
The Radeus Labs 8200 Legacy ACU
is the ideal drop-in replacement for
ageing 7200 systems.
§ No hidden costs
§ Easy Installation
§ Quality without compromise
Full systems are available for all makes
of antennas. Visit us at Radeuslabs.com
to find your state of the art antenna
control solution today!
Contact us today for a site visit!
Contact Us SALES (858) 602-1255 | Sales@RadeusLabs.com | Radeuslabs.com radeus
labs, inc.
(858) 391-1210 • 12720 Danielson Court • Poway, CA 92064 USA
Publishing Operations Senior Columnists This Issue’s Authors
Silvano Payne, Publisher + Executive Writer Chris Forrester, Broadgate Publications Sulaiman Al Ali Dr. Mark Lake
Simon Payne, Chief Technical Officer Karl Fuchs, iDirect Government Services Natasha Allden Thomas Lovsin
Hartley G. Lesser, Editorial Director Bob Gough, Goonhilly Earth Station Rob Andzik Dave Rehbehn
Pattie Lesser, Executive Editor Rebecca M. Cowen-Hirsch, Inmarsat David Burr Dr. Tyler Reid
Donald McGee, Production Manager Ken Peterman, Viasat Alex Donnison Pascal Wauthier
Andy Bernard, Sales Director Giles Peeters, Track24 Defence Chris Forrester Greg Wolff
Teresa Sanderson, Operations Director Koen Willems, ST Engineering Newtec Jon Harrison
Sean Payne, Business Development Director
Dan Makinster, Technical Advisor
Features Advertiser Index
The New Realities Of Increased Network Traffic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 Advantech Wireless Technologies, Inc. (A Baylin Company) . . . . . . . . . .35
by David Burr, Comtech EF Data
Three Trends To Driving The Evolution Of Next-Gen Satellite Ground Systems 12 Arabsat Satellite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7
by Dave Rehbehn, Hughes Network Systems
Where’s My Stuff??, by SSPI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 AvL Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5
Teleports: A Need For Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16
by Thomas Lovsin, STN C-COM Satellite Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Forrester Reports: Bonanza Time For U.S. Satellite Builders . . . . . . . . .18
by Chris Forrester, Senior Contributor Comtech EF Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
10 Years Of Space Situational Awareness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
by Pascal Wauthier, Space Data Association CPI Satcom Products . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Executive Spotlight: Mike Carey, ATLAS Space Operations . . . . . . . . . .26
Keeping Communities & Businesses Connected Throughout COVID-19 30 Isotropic Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
by Sulaiman Al Ali, Thuraya
Executive Spotlight: David Hurst, Orbital Transports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Radeus Labs, Inc. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .3
A Frontier Architecture For New Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
by Rob Andzik, AMERGINT Technologies RF-Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
The Road To Robust Navigation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
by Dr. Tyler Reid, Xona Space Systems RUAG Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9
The Role Of Space Technology In A Post COVID-19 Era . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
by Natasha Allden, MULTIPLY Global Ltd. Satnews Digital Editions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
A Case In Point: Datadragon™ Galvanizes Squire Tech’s Mission Critical Solutions 48
Old Space. New Tricks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Singapore Exhibition Services — ConnecTechAsia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
by Dr. Mark Lake, Roccor
LEO & The Impact On The Ground Segment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 Spacebridge (formerly Advantech Satellite Networks) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
by Alex Donnison, ETL Systems
ID’ing Suspect Iranian Tankers Smuggling Crude . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58 Swedish Space Corporation (SSC) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
by HawkEye 360
Protecting The Network Infrastructure That Depends On Time
Dissemination From GNSS Satellites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
by Greg Wolff
How Does SATCOM Facilities The Maritime Supply Chain . . . . . . . . . . .66
by Jon Harrison, Intellian Technologies
SatMagazine is published 11 times a year by Satnews Publishers, 800 Siesta Way, Sonoma, CA, 95476 — USA.
Phone: (707) 939-9306 / Fax: (707) 939-9235 © 2020 Satnews Publishers
We reserve the right to edit all submitted materials to meet publication content guidelines, as well as for grammar and spelling errors, or to move articles to an alternative issue to
accommodate publication space requirements, or remove content due to space restrictions or unacceptable content. Submission of articles does not constitute acceptance of said
material by Satnews Publishers. Edited materials may, or may not, be returned to author and/or company for review prior to publication. The views expressed in Satnews Publishers’
various publications do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Satnews Publishers. All rights reserved. All included imagery is courtesy of, and copyright to, the respective
companies and/or named individuals.
SatMagazine Page 4 July/August 2020
CONNECTING YOU TO THE FUTURE
1.35M FIT
FLEXIBLE INTEGRATED TERMINAL
SMALL PACKAGE.
BIG GAIN.
ARSTRAT KA-BAND CERTIFICATION
COMPUTER ASSISTED SATCAP
MANUAL POINTING OR AUTO-AQUISITION
BUILT-IN TUNER & BEACON RECEIVER
TRI-BAND X, KU AND WIDEBAND KA
FEEDS WITH QUICK CHANGE RF KITS
MODULAR & FLEXIBLE
MODEM, BUC & LNB OPTIONS
SCALABLE: 75CM, 98CM & 1.35M
SET-UP BY ONE PERSON IN MINUTES
LIGHTWEIGHT IATA-COMPLIANT
avltech.com
CHECKABLE CASES Visit AvL @ Virtual IBC, Sept. 11-14
The New Realities Of Increased Network Traffic
By David Burr, Vice President, Business Development, Comtech EF Data
Telecom providers are dealing with unprecedented internet traffic The industry consensus is that even once lockdowns are lifted that
volume during the current COVID-19 crisis as more people are traffic volumes will remain higher than pre-crisis levels. According to
working from home during lockdowns. The Organization for sources, such as the Technology Services Industry Association whose
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) released a members say that some form of working from home is here to stay.
report on this subject in May of 2020 entitled “Keeping the While employees will return to offices, many will continue to work from
Internet up and running in times of crisis,” which showed that a home at least part of the time. Facebook has said that half of its
majority of countries reported more than 25 percent increase in employees will be allowed to work from home permanently. In-person
traffic volume and some countries even experienced more than a events and conferences have been replaced by webinars, a trend that
50 percent increase in internet traffic. In the United Kingdom, the is expected to continue even after the current crisis subsides.
daytime broadband usage increased by 35 to 60 percent when As companies move more of their work online, they have accelerated
compared to pre-crisis levels. digital transformation projects which further increase the number of
applications running on networks. So even after the current crisis has
Communications application usage has skyrocketed, with WhatsApp passed, we expect network traffic to be significantly higher than it was
reporting that voice call volume has doubled and videoconferencing before the crisis. This is on top of the “normal” Internet traffic growth
applications such as ZOOM and Cisco’s WebEx reporting that their of around 25 percent per year.
usage has increased a mind-blowing 24x to 30x.
SatMagazine Page 6 July/August 2020
Off-the-shelf routers or switches
are designed for constant speed
terrestrial links and there is no
established standard to provide
feedback from variable speed links.
Without this information, the links
need to include headroom to
accommodate lower link speeds
during rain fades, which leaves
capacity unused most of the time.
Alternatively, if the link operates
without headroom, there will be too
much traffic when the link is
impaired, leading to congestion at
the satellite modem and resulting in
poor user Quality of Experience
(QoE) and degraded services.
Worse, routing and signaling packets
such as BGP could be discarded
resulting in routers declaring the
route unavailable, flapping or
network instability. Interference can
be different across multiple carriers
leading to even more challenges
Many telcos have been able to accommodate the additional demand when the links data rates don’t vary in concert with each other.
within their deployed terrestrial infrastructure. In Korea, network loading Increasing the satellite link bandwidth introduces another issue, the
is still only 45 to 60 percent of network capacity even with the additional ability to fill such a large pipe. Demand for higher bandwidth is not just
traffic demand. Many telcos have a policy of increasing network about increased number of users, but also the increased amount of
capacity when loading reaches 50 percent, so they are prepared to content per user. Access to internet content largely relies on one
accommodate this kind of surge within their existing infrastructure. protocol: TCP. TCP has two drawbacks. It is sensitive to delay, and to
Communities operating with satellite connections don’t have this packet errors or packet drops.
luxury. With the high cost of satellite capacity, it is not practical to This is not a concern when the overall latency or delay between the
provide the same level of headroom on satellite links. Satellite link data client (end user) and the server (content provider, cloud application) is
rates are optimized for specific needs rather than adopting small, but can become a major issue that affects user experience — or
standardized link rates which are common in fiber networks. New QoE — when delay reaches 100 ms or more. Example, with a typical
solutions are required to address changes in traffic demands such as client to server delay of 350 to 250 ms GEO latency plus 50 ms network
the COVID-19 crisis. delay —– access + internet, the maximum user session achievable
Increasing the satellite modem data rate only goes so far before throughput will be 7 Mbps, but with packet errors of only 0.5 percent,
transponder size becomes the limiting factor. Load balancing across the throughput will drop to 280 kbps. In today’s environment, simply
multiple modems to support bonded data paths could be the next logical accessing content is not good enough. To be deemed as “usable,”
step provided you deploy a properly designed solution. The load balancer internet access must be fast and smooth.
needs to know the link rates of the parallel paths to allocate traffic Fortunately, there is a solution to these problems: adding a Protocol
properly. Adaptive Coding and Modulation (ACM) has become widely Enhancement Proxy (PEP) function. The purpose of the PEP is two-fold:
adopted to deal with rain fades, but it results in variable data rates.
• Mitigate latency by accelerating TCP sessions throughput and
response time
• Managing retransmissions due to packet loss to avoid TCP
retransmission and loss of throughput
SatMagazine Page 8 July/August 2020
Stay on track: High-precision GNSS positioning of your satellite Do you need the highest precision for determining the position of your satellite? Around the world our customers trust in the accurate position, velocity and time delivered by our best-in-class GNSS receiver products. Select products from our wide navigation receiver portfolio that fit all your opera- tional needs. RUAG Space is a leading supplier of products for satellite and launcher original equip- ment manufacturers and systems integrators, both for institutional and commercial businesses. We help you stay on track! @RUAGSpace RUAG Space RUAG Space www.ruag.com/space | info.space@ruag.com
For these reasons, PEP is an
essential function of any high-
speed Internet access trunking
solution over a latent medium
such as satellite. The ideal
solution would:
• Support Gbps of traffic by
bonding multiple carriers
operating on different
transponders
• Ensure those bonded links
keep traffic flow packet
ordering end to end
• Accommodate changing
link conditions from rain
fade or interference using ACM conditions, especially on Ku- and Ka-band links where the link
• Mitigate satellite latency adversely affecting the behavior of bandwidth can vary considerably. This link information is used by the
Internet access (TCP) protocol HX Series load balancer to ensure that the links are loaded equally and
• Maximize the utilization by ensuring that individual carriers are by the FX Series WAN Optimizer to ensure that the QoS traffic shaping
equally and fully loaded policies are applied accurately.
The link loading can vary significantly due to differences in long- and
• Ensure a high level of end user Quality of Service (QoS)quality of
short-term traffic flows and variations in the compression rates of
service and QoE
different traffic. The HX compensates for these factors by monitoring
Operators need solutions that can deal with growing traffic demands the individual carrier loading and redirecting traffic so that the carriers
and overcome the physical limitations of transponder size and rain are equally loaded.
fade in an efficient, cost-effective manner. The FX Series’ shaping and queuing function prioritizes traffic using
the QoS traffic type information carried in the packet header to ensure
The Link Bonding Solution that the high priority traffic is protected even when the link is
Networks have become more complicated. Operating at very high data congested. When the FX Series appliance is connected to multiple
rates requires that networking functions need to be distributed across modems through a HX load balancer, then the sum of the modem
multiple devices and those functions need to be tightly integrated to data rates is used to shape the overall traffic. The system uses Flow
ensure high performance, reliability and a good QoE. The Comtech Aware Load Balancing to avoid packet re-ordering and minimize jitter.
EF Data High-Speed Trunking Solution is comprised of: It also has the support of satellite links with different latencies and
throughput capacities.
• The CDM-760 Advanced High-Speed Trunking and Broadcast
Modem – supporting more than 1.4 Gbps of user traffic with ACM Transparent Universal Network Operation
to maximize transponder utilization in all conditions Today’s telecom networks have to service a variety of users, so the
• The HX Series WAN Optimization Load Balancer – providing the networks need to operate with a mixture of traffic types including “plain
ability to combine up to 12 physical carriers into a single logical old internet,” mobile network backhaul (LTE) and Layer 2/3 VPN private
network connection while maintaining packet flow packet ordering network traffic. It is important to do this without requiring manual
• The FX Series WAN Optimization – providing WAN optimization configurations so the systems should provide universal network support
(WANOp) including TCP acceleration and DNS caching to provide in a plug and play fashion.
high end user QoE The Comtech EF Data solution provides fully transparent operation
with Layer 2 and Layer 3 operation supporting Internet access, mobile
Integrated Feedback network (LTE) backhaul, MPLS private networking (MPLS VPN), and
Feedback of the modem ACM state to the load balancer and Traffic QinQ VLANs.
Shaper is critical in order to efficiently maximize the link fill rate in all
SatMagazine Page 10 July/August 2020Telco Grade business models. As a 30-year veteran of the
Reliability is always important. However, for high-speed links serving satellite communications industry, he previously
large numbers of end users, it is absolutely critical that the solution served in various Product Management, Sales
operate with telco grade resiliency. Comtech EF Data’s solution Engineering and Project Management roles at
includes support for backup units and path redundancy, hot swap SES, O3b, New Skies, Polarsat, Comstream and
power supplies and fail to wire functionality. GTE. Burr holds a degree in Electrical Engineering
from Boston University. David Burr
Customer Case Study
Comtech EF Data had exactly this challenge with one of our customers.
Telesat Canada needed to meet rising
traffic needs of rural communities in far
Northern Canada (see image below). The
project needed to deliver 14 Gbps of
capacity to 25 remote communities with Solving the
VSAT Puzzle
speeds ranging from 80 Mbps up to 3
Gbps. The network would feed local DSL
and 4G networks which required high
bandwidth and optimized (TCP accelerated
and performance optimized) broadband
services. The services were to be provided
using 3 beams on a Ka-band satellite.
Conclusion
Comtech’s solution is field-proven and has
been successfully deployed with bonded
links offering more than 3 Gbps of user
traffic over Ka-band satellites. With the
post crisis “new normal” world certain to
include higher Internet traffic volumes,
more and more operators will reach the
limits of the existing satellite solutions.
Comtech EF Data’s integrated link
bonding solution provides operators with
an important tool to support increasing
traffic efficiently while maintaining a high
quality of experience. When you select Comtech for your VSAT platform, you can have con昀dence that we’ll provide the
pieces to solve the puzzle. We start with the industry’s most advanced hardware and software solutions,
enabling the highest user throughput and availability, optimal resource utilization and premier quality of
www.cometechefdata.com experience. Then, we provide technical training followed by professional installation and service
commissioning wherever our systems are sold, and 24/7 x 365 engineering support in 5 time zones.
David Burr is Vice President, Business Contact us today. Let us show you how the ef昀ciencies and 昀exibility of our platforms can help address
Development, for Comtech EF Data the complexities of your global VSAT network.
where he develops strategies and
applications to address the maritime
and satellite operator market verticals.
+1.480.333.2200
Burr is passionate about the role of sales@comtechefdata.com
efficiency and its application to satellite www.comtechefdata.com
communications technology and
CEFD_SatMag 2_3_Puzzle_2020.indd 1 12/10/19 1:18 PM
SatMagazine Page 11 July/August 2020Three Trends Driving The Evolution Of
Intelligent, Next-Gen Satellite Ground Systems
By Dave Rehbehn, Vice President, International Division, Hughes Network Systems
It is not an exaggeration to say that a satellite is only as good as using the DVB-S2X standard (which means the 500 MHz of spectrum can
the ground system it’s on. You can have the most efficient, highest realize more than 1 Gbps of capacity). However, due to limitations of the
capacity satellite in orbit – but if you can’t bring the service to the remote terminal forward error correction (FEC) decoder, most systems
users on the ground, all that throughput is all but useless. are unable to effectively support 100 Mbps services — these systems do
not have a sufficiently large channel capacity to support many users at
This is why any conversation about next-generation satellites must include these high rates.
the next-generation ground systems to support them. And just as global The next generation of ground systems will significantly increase FEC
demand for connectivity drives innovation in satellite design and decoding rates to 2 Gbps or better and provide for even higher packet
capabilities, the ground systems are also evolving by leaps and bounds. processing rates to support significantly higher data streams and the
Beyond meeting the ever-increasing demand for bandwidth, the 100 Mbps service plans that consumers expect.
ground systems of tomorrow must keep pace with – and perhaps even
lead – other advances across the industry. Four trends around which Trend #2: Flexible Satellites
ground systems are advancing include: 100 Mbps service plans; A number of satellite manufacturers have introduced so-called flexible
“flexible” satellites; larger network deployments; and the use of higher satellites, which reconfigure the coverage and capacity distribution of
bands for feeder links. the satellite while it’s in orbit. Examples include SES-17 and Inmarsat
G7, 8 and 9.
Trend #1: Higher Service Plans This flexible capability, which can be activated merely occasionally
New satellites have the capability of delivering more than 500 MHz of or frequently, is particularly useful where there are variations in demand
spectrum over a particular location, and to deliver the most possible such as in the mobility market. Consider cruise ship connectivity: in
Gbps on this spectrum requires higher order modulation and advanced winter, cruise operators are active in the Caribbean; while in summer,
processing at the remote terminal. Today, it is common for ground the connectivity demand may be off the coast of Alaska. A
systems to support 64APSK modulation or higher on the forward channel geostationary satellite over North America could cover both regions,
SatMagazine Page 12 July/August 2020but the trick is to move the capacity where it’s needed most rather than of stations needed. However, the use of Q/V-band also poses challenges
leaving a swath of bandwidth idle for part of the year. — specifically in the areas of hardware architecture and rain fade.
In order for flexible satellites to modify networks in real time in One way to address rain fade is to switch traffic, quickly and
response to changing demand, the ground systems must be up to the seamlessly, from a gateway where it is raining to one where it is not.
task. Specifically, to support flexible satellites, ground systems must Implementing 1:1 redundant gateway radio frequency terminals (RFTs)
interact with the satellite resource management system that manages (in which each gateway RFT has a dedicated RFT available for
the satellite’s resources and reconfigures the satellite. On top of that switchover in the event of rain fade) is cost-prohibitive, so the industry
interactivity, timing is crucial: reconfiguration must be coordinated is moving toward schemes where gateways are m:n redundant (with a
precisely with the ground system so that modems, whether at the pool of gateway RFTs that can be switched into use as needed).
gateway stations or at the remote terminal, are tuned properly. A To enable this innovation, operators are centralizing data processing in
successful reconfiguration process must happen in a matter of seconds a small number of data centers, reducing the onus on RFTs. Software-
which means that the ground system modems must very quickly retune defined networking (SDN) greatly simplifies the rapid rerouting of traffic as
and acquire the new channels. gateway stations are switched in and out of the network. And the
burgeoning use of network functions virtualization (NFV) technology will
Trend #3: Massive Network Deployments further reduce the hardware footprint and simplify operations. In
Network deployments are growing in scale and complexity, demanding combination, these technologies enable rapid switching of gateways during
ever more intelligent ground systems to support them. As High- fade conditions to maintain seamless connections for individual users.
Throughput Satellites (HTS) have proliferated over the past decade, the
networks they power have mushroomed to include thousands and even Supporting the Complex Network of the Future
millions of remote terminals with hundreds of devices at each of the Serving the growing and changing needs of consumers, enterprises and
gateway stations to route data into the terrestrial network. even things is spurring industry innovation at a tremendous pace.
The HughesNet® network is but one example of a large system with Advances like flexible satellites, sprawling networks and alternate bands
more than 1.5 million terminals. Every node on these networks — for feeder beams represent some of the ways the industry is adapting
whether a remote or gateway component — requires a new level of technology to meet user needs.
intelligence to monitor myriad data points on operation and health. Also looming on the horizon are highly complex networks that will
These increasingly vast network deployments challenge traditional leverage a mix of access technologies — including satellite and
FCAPS (fault, configuration, accounting, performance and security) terrestrial transport — requiring even greater intelligence at the premise
network management systems. to leverage the right transport at the right time. In the ongoing cycle of
To address that challenge, operators are pulling information from innovation, technology developments in satellite are driving dramatic,
many devices and uploading into a cloud data lake, then applying rapid advances in ground systems, which in turn will enable an even
artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to mine the more powerful and sophisticated satellite network of the future.
performance data and flag issues before they develop into full-blown
problems. For example, using these techniques, it is possible to identify www.hughes.com
remote terminals that become misaligned or develop moisture in the
IFL (intra facility link) cable. More significantly, the performance of Dave Rehbehn leads the company’s global
various system elements such as an outroute can be analyzed over time marketing of broadband products as well as
to identify potential performance or efficiency issues. business development for services. In this capacity,
he develops Hughes international market strategy
Trend #4: Alternate Bands for Feeder Beams and guides the strategic direction of the Hughes
A central tenet of the satellite industry lies in maximizing the value of a international sales force. Mr. Rehbehn works
most precious resource: bandwidth. One way to optimize bandwidth is closely with end users and service operators to
to use different bands to meet different needs. track market trends, emerging applications and
For instance, to devote as much Ka- bandwidth as possible to user business developments in global communications and
beams, Hughes is using Q- and V-band for feeder beams in the design networking. A recognized thought leader in the industry, Mr.
of the new JUPITER 3 (EchoStar XXIV) ground system. The Q/V-bands Rehbehn speaks frequently on satellite solutions for bridging the
offer significantly more spectrum than Ka-band feeder beams, delivering digital divide. Throughout his career, Mr. Rehbehn has worked
many more Gbps per gateway station and even reducing the number across the Hughes business from engineering, to consumer
internet service to international enterprise and operator markets.
SatMagazine Page 13 July/August 2020Where’s My Stuff?
It’s the moment you dread. You reach into your pocket or Finding Far More than Phones
handbag—and your phone isn’t there. Satellite asset tracking is an integral part of the Internet of Things (IoT),
where machines talk to machines in ways that help help human beings.
A flash of panic runs through you. Where is it? Lost? Stolen? You rush When emergency agencies send portable generators and trailers
online and use the “find my phone” feature to see where it may be into disaster zones, they need to know where they are and how to get
located... and there it is, at the restaurant where you left it last night. them back.
It’s one thing to lose your phone. It’s another to lose an asset such as Energy companies exploring for oil or gas move drilling rigs, tanks
a mining dump truck that costs and pumps from one place to
millions. Companies with serious another all the time. When they
mobile assets and equipment in know exactly where that
the field need their own “find my equipment is, they can better plan
phone” feature. Fortunately, they for tomorrow.
have one, thanks to satellite Truck fleets have to make
connectivity. on-time deliveries and coordinate
multiple pick-ups.
SatMagazine Page 14 July/August 2020That’s hard to do unless your trucks are telling you where they are
CPI GaN BUCs
and where they’re going. Those are just some of the ways that
customers use asset tracking technology from Globalstar.
Here’s how it works. A small device attached to each asset reads its
location from GPS satellites. It transmits that location information
directly to Globalstar satellites and the company returns that valuable
data to their customers.
Knowledge is Key
When you know where something is located, it can tell you a lot. Did it
arrive on time? Is it in the correct place? How far is it from its next
scheduled destination?
For the people who have to manage those assets, it’s like a pair of
magic glasses that lets them see the whole operation with one glance.
That saves time and money, and keeps people safe.
“Find my phone” is great but it only works when your phone is in
range of the cellular network. Globalstar satellites work everywhere,
from roadways and waterways to forests, mountains and prairies.
Satellites enable the Internet of Things to work in places it never
could operate before, and all from a little gadget you can hold in your
hand—and a powerful network of satellites and ground stations circling
the globe.
The last word in solid state
See more stories and videos of how satellite is making a better
world at: https//www.bettersatellietworld.com
from the 昀rst name in HPAs.
• Ef昀cient solution for all satellite
Produced for Satnews by Space &
uplink applications
Satellite Professionals
International. See more stories • Up to 160 W in Ka-band
and videos of satellite making • Up to 200 W in X-band
a better world at .
• Up to 100 W in C-band
• Up to 80 W in Ku-band
• 1,000 W C-band transceiver
80 W Ku-band BUC 160 W Ka-band BUC
Download our app!
Search: CPI Satcom
CPI Satcom Products | www.cpii.com | +1 (669) 275-2744
SatMagazine Page 15 July/August 2020Teleports: A Need For Speed
By Thomas Lovsin, Chief Technical Officer, STN
As the world of technology progressed and evolved, habits needed to identify whether the fault lies with network carriers, video
changed, expectations widened and the portfolio of services broadcasters or teleports.
expanded. Everything has moved on an express high-speed The lack of visibility into the network and QoE can result in
digital highway and – being no exception — teleports accelerated dissatisfied customers and, further, revenue loss. Therefore, the key
and adapted. pillars that together form the foundation for a teleport to offer its
services are network throughput, robustness, and monitoring.
Today there is little difference in providing services for broadcasters or STN has recently invested in a complete overhaul of the teleport’s
data providers and one can almost claim that the two have merged. core ground infrastructure and that has significantly boosted the
While remaining different in nuances at their core both rely on moving capacities as well as made the facility less prone to potential system
huge amounts of data both intra and inter between various facilities. failures or errors. Add in-depth monitoring of each individual port,
Whereas some of us may well remember the era of 3-1⁄2-inch VLAN, switch, router, etc. to the equation and you get an extremely
floppy disks with a capacity of 1.44 MB, fast forward to today and the powerful and robust network that enables STN to quickly and efficiently
transferr of gigabytes of data occurs in a matter of seconds — that is route traffic and process data (be it IP data or IP broadcast traffic) in
the new normal. real-time all tailored specifically to each individual customers’ needs.
To accommodate all this data to flow error-free and quickly across The fact is that STN’s clients use more and more devices that need
different facilities and countless devices, a teleport needs to adapt its more and more bandwidth. With this overhaul, the company has
core infrastructure accordingly. increased its capacity of both its core internal network as well as its
Except for accessing devices via web-GUIs or similar applications, capability of providing internet services from an internet connection to
10/100/1000 Mbit/s infrastructure simply can no longer meet these server hosting; all fully redundant with automatic fail-overs that enable
requirements. The complexity of networks is increasing day by day. This, the continuation of access without any STN’s internet services provide
in turn, means that monitoring has become more difficult — without high-speed access and direct connections to a large number of Tier-1
accuracy, it is extremely tough to deliver customer satisfaction in cases ISP carriers’ networks — with all the major mobile, cloud and content
where poor service goes undetected or due to lack of information providers, as well as various enterprises companies.
SatMagazine Page 16 July/August 2020represent high-density building
blocks for a next-generation,
intent-based network with a
network that can now learn,
adapt, and evolve.
With a system designed to
be intuitive, STN’s highly
specialized team of engineers
can recognize intent, mitigate
threats through segmentation
and encryption all while
retaining operational simplicity.
The new network helps STN to
unlock opportunities, enhance
security, be more agile, and
operate more efficiently.
STN’s internet services are fully capable of preventing potential We all know that our industry is under enormous financial pressure
cyberattacks across all applications on all of its largest networks and its and we are all — in fact — likely being asked to do more with less; to
datacentre. Our function-specific processors for networking, security, handle more users and devices with less budget and less staff to
content inspection, and management, our threat and intrusion manage the network. The average number of devices that one IT staff
protection and detection systems can deliver up to 200Gbit/s member supports has been increasing, from a hundred devices to
throughput and 100Gbit/s threat prevention throughput with all the hundreds of thousands, with the expectation that it will be perhaps
security capabilities enabled. millions of devices in the future.
With these upgrades and equipment and software modernization, This is clearly not possible in today’s Command-Line Interface (CLI)-
STN has increased the capacity of its intranet services for as much as driven management environment. A new network is needed. A network
9900 percent, compared with 1Gbit/s infrastructure. However, the that is software-driven and hardware-enhanced. With STN’s
overhaul did not end there and STN has invested heavily in upgrading modernization we have achieved the aforementioned goals; not only
its global connectivity in the same manner as with our intranet. by increasing the capacities but by implementing a thorough, in-depth,
By building a full-mesh global network also based on 10 Gbit/s, 40 efficient two-level monitoring system based on policy-based
Gbit/s, or 100 Gbit/s, depending on the location, has allowed the networking, an intelligent network fabric, and automation that make
company to remain flexible and to implement additional connectivity intent-based networking a reality for STN today.
in an extremely short periods of time that are usually measured in hours. Furthermore, the revamped network looks like a single large virtual
STN’s global network, which is connected to the vast majority of all switch to the users and devices connecting to it. Virtualization allows
major PoP’s worldwide, is a secure and high-quality network service for agility and flexibility in ways that have not been possible with a
utilizing advanced MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) technology traditional network.
that is highly expandable and flexible. Managing and securing the entire network from a single interface
By employing multiple cable routes through route diversity, STN allows for faster network design, definition, provisioning, and
has truly implemented a robust, fully redundant global network maintenance, which ultimately improves network uptime.
system all while, similar to the intranet revamp, increasing the
capacity of its flexible global network by 900 percent where 10 Gbit/s “Altogether, the result is a super-fast resilient
infrastructure is deployed, 3900 percent where 40 Gbit/s technology network that allows STN to diversify as the needs of
is used or 9900 percent where 100 Gbit/s connectivity is established our industry develop.” Tomaz Lovsin CTO, STN
(compared with 1 Gbit/s).
At the same time, the new infrastructure that was built for the
enterprise campus is fully backward compatible with 40/25/10/1 Gbit/s
networks enabling STN to remain fully flexible. Designed for security,
the Internet of Things (IoT), and the cloud, STN’s core switches
SatMagazine Page 17 July/August 2020Image is courtesy of Esri.
Forrester Reports: Bonanza Time For US Satellite Builders
By Chris Forrester, Senior Contributor, Satnews Publishers
The C-band conversion process has resulted in a — probably — once Boeing will deliver a pair of highly efficient all-electric 702SP satellites
in a lifetime boost to US satellite orders. SES and Intelsat will order for SES. The two satellites — SES-20 and SES-21 — will be
as many as 13 US-built satellites that will require at least 6 rocket manufactured and assembled in Los Angeles, California.
launches in order to meet the FCC’s ruling to free up an overall 300 SES, in its statement, stated, “These four C-band only new satellites
MHz (280 + a 20 MHz guard band) by December 5, 2023. will enable SES to clear 280 MHz of mid-band spectrum for 5G use
while seamlessly migrating SES’s existing C-band customers. Each
Add to that 13 will be another satellite ordered by Eutelsat, although it satellite will have 10 primary transponders of 36 MHz plus back-up
is, as of this writing, unclear as to who will win that order. tubes so they can enable the broadcast delivery of digital television to
The work isn’t limited to the satellite builders — this also means a more than 120 million TV homes as well as provide critical data services.
ton of work for contractors and sub-contractors as they fit tens of The satellites, when launched in Q3/2022, will be positioned at 103
thousands of filters and other apparatus at the head-ends of the degrees West, 131 degrees West and 135 degrees West orbital slots.
operator’s clients’ sites across the country. The cost of manufacturing these four satellites is part of the $1.6 billion
The FCC requirements are straight-forward; however, the timetable is investment envelope that SES has announced in May.
extremely tight and doesn’t officially permit delays, whether through ‘force Two additional satellites will be built and act as ‘ground spares’ in
majeure,’ further developments with COVID-19 or even satellite failures. case of problems. The total bill (building 6 craft, plus launch/insurance
The FCC has specified that, by the end of next year (December 5, for 4 of them) will be some $1.25 billion. SES’s transition requires the
2021) they must free up all their services in the bottom 180 MHz of the manufacture and launch of four C-band spacecraft comprising:
overall 300 MHz plan.
Luxembourg-based SES has ordered an immediate four new (i) a replacement at 135º W.L.
satellites from US manufacturers to replace the C-band capacity the (ii) a replacement at 131º W.L.
company is surrendering as part of the FCC’s accelerated C-band (iii) a replacement at 103º W.L.
clearance plan, with Northrop Grumman and the Boeing Company to (iv) one on-orbit spare satellite (to be collocated at 103º W.L.) to meet
manufacture and assemble the C-band only satellites in Dulles, Virginia, existing contractual obligations to customers for in-orbit protection.
and in Los Angeles, California. The four C-band spacecraft are planned to be launched by the end of
Northrop Grumman will deliver two of its GeoStar-3 satellites, each Q3 2022, after which the relevant services will be transitioned as
equipped with a high-quality, C-band payload. The two satellites — SES- described in more detail in the table on the following page.
18 and SES-19 — will be designed, assembled and tested in Dulles, Virginia.
SatMagazine Page 18 July/August 2020SES stated the company is committed to investing in America by procuring services and equipment needed for the C-band transition from large and small businesses across the US and these significant partnerships with Northrop Grumman and the Boeing Company are cornerstones of that commitment. “Given the FCC’s strong leadership in providing for accelerated clearing of precious C-band spectrum in the US, our focus is on delivering on our commitment and making the spectrum available in the shortest possible time while ensuring that we protect the broadcast customers and communities that we have built over 35 years,” said Steve Collar, CEO/SES. “To meet our deadlines to clear C-band spectrum, we have selected established American satellite manufacturers in Northrop Grumman and Boeing with their focus on heritage, reliability and minimal risk to build these four satellites, enabling us to fully support the FCC’s 5G Fast initiative.” SatMagazine Page 19 July/August 2020
This means that new C-band satellites will need to be constructed
and launched, and located in the orbital slots not only at 103° W.L. but
also at 131° W.L. and 135° W.L. as well.
SES must replace the C-band satellites at these locations to maintain
its service continuity commitments. There will also need to be another
satellite to provide capacity needed for protection from transponder or
satellite failure.
Intelsat has ordered at least 6 satellites. Four are to come from Maxar The SES ‘accelerated’ plan is split into a couple of phases:
Technologies and will be built at Maxar’s Palo Alto plant (the former
Space Systems/Loral facility). Two others will be supplied by Northrop PHASE 1
Grumman. There will also be an additional 7th satellite from Intelsat By December 5, 2021, SES will...
which is currently under supplier negotiation. • Relocate all of its commercial services out of the 3700-3820 MHz
The race is now on for this new capacity to be in place by December band exclusive to the contiguous United States (“CONUS”)
5, 2023. Meeting that date will enable Intelsat to receive $4.87 billion • Make necessary equipment changes on all associated Incumbent
as an ‘incentive’ reward from the FCC for clearing the spectrum on time Earth Station antennas located in 46 of the top 50 Partial
and thus be available to aid 5G’s rollout over the US. Economic Areas (“PEAs”) and the surrounding areas in CONUS
The Intelsat craft from Maxar will be dubbed Galaxy (see Intelsat • Supplement its telemetry, tracking and control (“TT&C”)
table). Northrop’s pair will be Galaxy 12R and 15R. All six craft are being operations to enhance two earth stations located in Hawley,
scheduled for launch in Q3 and Q4/2022. Pennsylvani, (“Hawley”), and Brewster, Washington (“Brewster”)
Intelsat also reported there will also be a 7th — as yet unspecified — • Begin to consolidate its gateway services (e.g., international
satellite as part of the new C-band fleet. This 7th craft is Intelsat’s insurance feeder link, data, and other services) currently located at other
policy in case of an orbital or launch problem with the initial batches of SES gateway locations as well as any customer or user gateway
satellites. Intelsat says this 7th bird will be ordered by this September with services to Hawley and/or Brewster — these gateway services will
a launch date by September 2023, just within the FCC’s timetable. operate on an unprotected basis in the 3700-3820 MHz band.
“Quickly clearing 300 megahertz of the U.S. C-band spectrum to
make way for 5G wireless applications is a complex task, layered with a PHASE 2
significant number of highly interdependent technical activities, By December 5, 2023, SES will...
including building and launching multiple new satellites designed to • Relocate all of its CONUS-exclusive commercial services out of the
operate at the higher portion of the band,” said Intelsat’s Chief Services 3700-4000 MHz band
Officer, Mike DeMarco, on June 15. • Make necessary equipment changes on all associated Incumbent
We now also know the costs for the company. Intelsat said their 7th Earth Station antennas located in all CONUS PEAs
craft will cost a total of $790 million, with launch costs of an additional • Continue TT&C operations in the lower portion of the band on a
$390 million, including insurance. protected basis at Hawley and Brewster and in the upper portion
As long anticipated, it seems that SES and Intelsat will be providing (4.2 GHz) of the band at SES’s other teleports
extra capacity over and above that required by the FCC and that the • Complete gateway consolidation to the Hawley and Brewster
rocket builders will break out the additional fees for the extra payloads. sites; the gateway services will operate on an unprotected basis
In most cases, the new satellites will permit SES and Intelsat to free up in the 3700-4000 MHz band at Hawley and Brewster.
existing capacity for either new roles or back-up in orbit.
SES reported that on-orbit testing and the usual drift to their Based on the current SES plan, there are 196 services in total that are
designated orbital slots will take approximately eight weeks, suggesting impacted by the C-band repurposing: 114 services on domestic satellites
they are all going to be conventionally launched and will not use electric (SES-1, SES-2, SES-3, SES-11, AMC-11, AMC-3) and 82 services on
propulsion for orbit raising. international satellites (SES-4, SES-6, SES-14, NSS-9, NSS-10). SES will be
SES added that, as the C-band rules requires in-CONUS C-band required to perform 111 frequency/satellite moves for services, gateway
distribution to be consolidated into 200 MHz of downlink bandwidth, moves for 68 services, 11 services will require compression/modulation
SES will need a total of six satellites to support its C-band cable video upgrades and 6 mobile services may require frequency moves on the
distribution customers. There will need to be five active satellites to same satellite, should the user determine it is necessary.
ensure at least 1000 MHz of downlink bandwidth is available to continue
existing services (i.e., 5 x 200 MHz = 1000 MHz).
SatMagazine Page 20 July/August 2020SES (and perhaps Intelsat) is making an additional major technology Eutelsat said it will need to spend $171 million to clear its C-band
change and using digital compression for its broadcast clients. frequencies and will order up one new satellite, although its supplier
“Specifically, the pre-transition services encoded using MPEG-2 will has not yet been specified.
be upgraded to MPEG-4, which will support same or better service in By any measure this is an exciting time for the satellite industry. Of
much less bandwidth. With technology upgrades, the customer’s post- course, the FCC’s incentive payments will benefit all the operators as
transition needs are reduced to only 7½ transponders, which will allow well as the FCC and the US telco sector. The next key date is the
those services to continue to be downlinked on a single satellite,” scheduled December 8, 2020, auction.
stated SES in its FCC submission.
Both SES and Intelsat, starting on December 31, 2020, will submit a Senior Columnist Chris Forrester is a well-known
quarterly status report that summarizes the status of the firms’ clearing broadcasting journalist and industry consultant. He
efforts. SES, for example, intends to include in each report a list of the reports on all aspects of broadcasting with special
Incumbent Earth Stations receiving services from SES that have been emphasis on content, the business of television and
fully transitioned pursuant to this Transition Plan. emerging applications. He founded Rapid TV News
Telesat, Eutelsat and Claro have also made their plans clear. Telesat, for and has edited Interspace and its successor, Inside
example, says it will not need an additional satellite and will fit filters to Satellite TV, since 1996. He also files for Advanced-
its existing Anik-F1R and Anik-F3 receiving dishes and its craft can Television.com.
continue working. Claro will rent space from SES on its SES-4 craft and In November of 1998, Chris was appointed an Associate
thus continue services into Miami, Florida, for its (Embratel) Star One (professor) of the prestigious Adham Center for Television
C1 craft. Journalism, part of the American University in Cairo (AUC), in
recognition of his extensive coverage of the Arab media market.
Chris is a Senior Contributor to Satnews Publishers.
SatMagazine Page 21 July/August 202010 Years Of Space Situational Awareness
By Pascal Wauthier, Chairman, Space Data Association
Ten years ago, satellite operators recognized a need to protect Pre-Space Data Association
the space environment by the sharing of essential data for Prior to 2010, collision avoidance and space safety on the whole was
collision avoidance. an afterthought to most operators and indeed most of the industry. The
sustainability of space was simply not on most people’s radar.
The Space Data Association (SDA) was originally born in 2009, and this Brian Swinburne of Airbus and SDA Standard
year celebrates the formation of the Space Data Center and its 10 years Member Director, said, “In my opinion, prior to 2010
of operation. A lot has changed since then, both within the space it was commonplace to think that ‘space is a big place’
environment itself and the role of the SDA. Space is getting busier and — well that’s not strictly true anymore; as we know,
traffic and debris pose a palpable threat in all orbits, particularly LEO, space is more congested than ever. Some collision
potentially even to the extent of threatening our industry’s ability to avoidance (CA) was taking place, but this was largely
operate safely at all. performed independently or by military services.” Brian Swinburne
The SDA’s Space Data Center is providing valuable Collision As Brian stated, only a handful of large
Avoidance (CA) information which continues to minimise the risk of operators outside of the military sector had the
collision in space. But we know that space is changing, and we are capability to monitor close approaches using
always looking to be at the forefront of this change. It therefore seems JSpOC or Space-Track information, and as Dan
apt on the SDC’s 10th birthday that myself and some of the SDA Oltrogge of Analytical Graphics (AGI) and SDA
directors explore what’s changed over the last 10 years, and where we Technical Advisor points out, “these free, legacy
are heading in the next. SSA services were intended as more of a ‘heads-
Dan Oltrogge
SatMagazine Page 22 July/August 2020up’ notice of an upcoming close approach, where identified close Where Are We Now?
approaches were monitored but may not have been acted upon Fast forward 10 years and I would say that things have changed hugely.
because of a recognition that such notifications were often not The SDA has played a vital role over the past 10 years to get the
actionable in themselves.” space industry to where we are now. Cooperation seems to be the most
One of the main reasons these close approaches common reason cited by directors. Jean-Luc believes that the SDA has
were not actioned upon was a lack of consistently most importantly “fostered cooperation among members, raising
pooled data. According to Lorenzo Arona, Avanti and situation awareness by bringing the largest satellite operators together
SDA Standard Member Director, “warnings were to cooperate on this very important topic.”
based on incomplete data. They assumed free-flight Lorenzo also sees the way the SDA fostered cooperation among
orbits, while active satellites perform manoeuvres members as key and stated, “I also believe it underpinned the need for
Lorenzo Arona
often, so there was no way of getting the full picture”. a shared approach to the utilization of near-Earth space – which is a
At that time, only limited data sharing occurred, finite resource”.
mainly on an individual level between operators “The SDA/SDC showed operators that it was possible to screen all-
who shared personal agreements. As Jean-Luc on-all objects and have a strong legal framework. It also fostered
Froeliger of Intelsat, and SDA Executive Director cooperation between operators even though they were competitors in
noted, “a lot was done through personal contacts the same space market,” added Brian Swinburne.
between the various Flight Dynamics groups that Dan Oltrogge also believes the SDA ,“has influenced and enhanced
had been established over the years.” There was SSA much more than people realize. As a leading SSA and safety-of-
therefore very little data sharing on a global basis, flight analysis center, the SDC has also been an active proponent,
Jean-Luc Froeliger
and almost no official or national recognition that participant and tester of new SSA capabilities fielded by the U.S.
space collisions were an issue. government, to include the release of analyst satellite data, SP
ephemerides, resolution of cross-tags, identification of missed
SatMagazine Page 23 July/August 2020maneuvers, and sharing of operator data for the purpose of regaining Current Talking Points track custody and flight safety.” As we look ahead to the next 10 years, some changes in the industry Also, by encouraging operators to establish SSA Data Sharing will have a big effect on SSA and the safety of space. According to jean- Agreements with the U.S., providing interfaces to the 18SpCS Space- Luc, “A big challenge will be the proliferation of small satellites and the Track system, and by developing an efficient monitoring and warning large number of Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft constellations, many system using operator/member operational information, SDA provides of them having no onboard propulsion for collision avoidance.” effective CA capabilities to a large number of operators. There are already 1300 active satellites in LEO orbit, while planned As Swinburne said, “We’ve seen a transition from an emphasis on launches could see that number rise by ten times over the next decade. collision avoidance (significant enough at the time) through to the Tracking these satellites will become incredibly complex and it simply development of Space Situational Awareness (SSA) and even the won’t be enough to rely on third-party sensor data for the sheer volume concept of Space Traffic Management (STM). One of the biggest steps of traffic expected. Operators of smallsats will need to feed their own we’ve seen and continue to see is the adoption of such thinking by data into an independent repository, such as the Space Data Center, so national agencies rather than just a handful of operators.” we are able to have accurate, up-to-the-minute and actionable data. This is exemplified by the plan to transfer SSA services from 18SPCS According to Oltrogge, “The space population is undergoing a to the Department of Commerce in the US, and the emergence of dramatic increase for three main reasons: (1) the dozen fragmentation EUSST (European Space Surveillance and Tracking). events that occur annually, (2) advanced tracking sensors and STM Perhaps closely linked to the above is, as Lorenzo Arona remarked, systems that are on track to grow our knowledge of what’s already in “The birth of commercial SSA services like ComSpOC or ExoAnalytic.” space tenfold by 2022, and (3) the deployment of large constellations Oltrogge tells us that these services, “pair new sensor technology that put us on track to double the active spacecraft this year alone, and with advanced data fusion and analytics to dramatically improve SSA increase by tenfold by 2029.” solutions and predictions.” The emergence of these commercial We really cannot ignore how much of an issue congestion in LEO will services mostly definitely shows that the industry is prioritizing SSA and become and whether we will be able to operate with so much more flight safety. debris increasing year on year. SatMagazine Page 24 July/August 2020
You can also read
