September 2008 Edition
Military Satellites
INCOMING
INCOMING: Milsat Moves,
According to a recent Forecast International (FI) press release, the research firm projects that over the next decade, defense departments worldwide will invest some $30.6 billion on approximately 95 military satellites. The satellites to be developed and procured with this funding will range in size from large military satcoms, such as the Wideband Global Satcom and Advanced EHF, to the relatively small ELISA electronic intelligence satellite.
INCOMING: Article Withdrawn,
We regret that an article that originally appeared in this publication on September 12th apparently contained numerous misconceptions and inaccuracies. The article, titled, Commercial Space Practices, by Dr. Len Losik has been retracted, and we deeply apologize to the companies whose standards and integrity were erroneously put into question. The entire subject matter involves the author, Dr. Len Losik, and Space Systems/LORAL — both parties have differi. As we are not the final adjudicators of legal fact, the article has been withdrawn to avoid misrepresentation for, or of, either party.
Sincerely,
Silvano Payne, Publisher
Hartley Lesser, Editorial Director
COMM OPS
COMM OPS: Military SatellitesApplications, by Jos Heyman, Tiros Space Information
As of July 1, 2008 the nations of the world had launched a total of 6,040 satellites and spacecraft since the first launch of Sputnik-1 on October 4, 1957. Of these, 2,748 can be considered as having purely military applications. This total excludes crewed missions that were used to undertake, amongst others, military experiments. It also excludes military scientific satellites and satellites that were primarily used for other purposes with military applications as a secondary objective.
COMMAND CENTER
COMMAND CENTER: Brigadier General Susan K. Mashiko, Vice Commander, Space and Missiles Systems Center, L.A.F.B., CA
COMMAND CENTER: Robert Demers, Senior Vice President, Americom Government Services
COMMAND CENTER: Gary Hatch, CEO and President, ATCi
BRIEFINGS
BRIEFING: DoD SatCom: Supply And Demand, by Andrea Maléter and Chad Frappier, Futron Corporation
by Andrea Maléter and Chad Frappier, Futron Corporation
United States military use of satellite communications has grown exponentially over the past decade through extended utilization of military satellites as well as unprecedented expansion in the use of commercial satellite capacity. Leveraging what was a period of low utilization of commercial systems, the Department of Defense was able to work with commercial operators to reconfigure their systems and make satellites available where needed, to the point that currently some 80 percent of the satellite capacity used by the DoD is leased from commercial systems.
United States military use of satellite communications has grown exponentially over the past decade through extended utilization of military satellites as well as unprecedented expansion in the use of commercial satellite capacity. Leveraging what was a period of low utilization of commercial systems, the Department of Defense was able to work with commercial operators to reconfigure their systems and make satellites available where needed, to the point that currently some 80 percent of the satellite capacity used by the DoD is leased from commercial systems.
BRIEFING: Military Satellite HistoryPart III, by U.S.A.F.'s Space and Missile Center's History Office, Los Angeles Air Force Base
The Space and Missile Systems Center is the birthplace and cradle of military space and the central hub of military space acquisition excellence. SMCs mission is to deliver unrivaled space and missile systems to the joint warfighter and our nation, producing innovative, affordable, and operationally effective space systems of separate subsystems that could carry out different missions.
BRIEFING: The MCSW MilSat Story,
BRIEFING: Getting To Know You,
The ability to learn allows mankind to adjust to situations of the most important kind, those of personal and business growth and, yes, even survival! Within the military, governmental, organizational and commercial worlds, the capability to adjust ones ideas based upon absorption of new information enables personal and professional development. Isnt that is what its all about?