TAMPA, Fla. — Viasat’s U.K. subsidiary is partnering with Oxford Space Systems, a British satellite antenna specialist, to develop a 50% lighter high-speed communications terminal to enhance the mobility of dismounted soldiers.
The businesses see the potential for a Ka-band satellite communications system that’s 15 kilograms or less, Viasat UK managing director Hisham Awad told Sept. 8, with built-in storage enabling other essential equipment and supplies to suit more easily in a user’s pack.
A typical military satellite communications terminal is mostly moved in a tough shell with various parts, which Awad said could make the packed system weigh anywhere from 28 to 34 kilograms.
Nonetheless, weight is only one area of interest. The businesses also aim to enhance the whole system volume once packed up and the way easily users can transport it.
A contemporary soldier often carries equipment that’s near 70% of typical body weight, in keeping with Awad, hampering mission effectiveness and increasing injury risk.
Along with helping reduce this overall transport burden, the businesses aim to create a low-cost solution that might require less power compared with current military and business terminals.
Awad stressed their research and development efforts are at a really early stage, and it is simply too soon to place a timeframe on development because they expect it to be a highly iterative and collaborative effort.
The businesses will initially give attention to developing terminals connecting to Ka-band satellites in geostationary orbit.
U.S.-based Viasat operates a combined fleet of 19 geostationary satellites following its recent acquisition of British operator Inmarsat.
Oxford Space Systems makes a speciality of developing deployable antennas, booms, and other structures for the space environment. The ten-year-old enterprise can be working with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, a part of the U.K.’s Ministry of Defence, to create smaller terminals that might operate in C-band for lower bandwidth applications.
Sean Sutcliffe, CEO of Oxford Space Systems, said its research efforts could bring its deployable space antenna capability to be used on the bottom for the primary time.
The corporate declined to present details about its work on C-band terminals with the British government.
Previous C-band military terminals haven’t been used for satellite communications, Awad said, but have been a part of a troposcatter communications system that uses the Earth’s atmosphere to reflect low-frequency signals over long distances.
Two-thirds of Viasat’s satellite fleet provides connectivity services in Ka-band spectrum, which is increasingly being beamed from government and business satellites to enable high-speed broadband services.
“Consequently, the necessity for accessing this capability through those networks is growing,” Awad said, “especially amongst mobile users who must stay connected for his or her missions.”
Viasat has previously developed terminals in partnership with other antenna makers to serve soldiers on the bottom and across domains.
Under the partnership with Oxford Space Systems, the operator would offer the network, terminal certification, radio frequency equipment, and system engineering support for the terminal.
The technology could also profit other users operating in austere environments, including disaster recovery and aid employees.
Viasat’s U.K. subsidiary, which it had long before acquiring Inmarsat, mostly provides communications services to the British government, particularly around data security and knowledge insurance.
The subsidiary and Oxford Space Systems are a part of the U.K.’s Harwell Space Cluster positioned in Harwell, England.
The businesses also plan to explore other areas of mutual interest following their research partnership.