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XTAR Commentary: “Avoiding the China Comsat Trap”
The discussion in ANALYSIS: Avoiding the China Comsat Trap by Ben Iannotta in Deep Dive Intelligence, June 17, 2013, on the debate revolving around the DoD’s recent purchase of satellite capacity from a Chinese company, helps to focus on the key issue: the U.S. military buys commercial satellite bandwidth with a process that inevitably increases…
Read MoreCultivating Domestic Satellite Capacity
The recent vilification of the use of a Chinese satellite to fulfill a U.S. DoD operational communications requirement in Africa is not surprising. Intuitively, using a satellite owned and controlled by a country whose policies and actions are in direct opposition to those of the U.S. does not make sense. Congressman John Garamendi of the…
Read MoreWGS – The Devil is in the Details
Each time a new WGS satellite is launched, it strikes me to read the media coverage. I find it nearly always includes quotes from DoD representatives claiming that WGS has 10 times the capacity of a DSCS satellite, or that WGS is the DOD’s highest capacity communications satellite system. These claims, while technically accurate, are…
Read MoreXTAR Commentary: “Space Attacks: Technology And Contracting Shifts May End Market Dominance”
This article, Space Attacks: Technology And Contracting Shifts May End Market Dominance by Aaron Mehta in C4ISR Digital Edition, May 31, 2013, highlights the key issues that DoD is tackling—how to lower costs while creating a more resilient architecture.
Read MoreThe Imperative of Long-Term Contracts
As the House Armed Services Committee reviews much needed policy changes in commercial SATCOM capacity acquisition, it is vitally important that both Congress and their colleagues at the Pentagon recognize the following key issues.
Read MoreWhat We Can Learn from DoD’s Decision to Lease Chinese Capacity
Today, there exist numerous satellite operators which have spent millions of dollars meeting or exceeding U.S. Government requirements for information assurance and operational compatibility. Of course, XTAR is one of them. With this in mind, I noted with great interest recent criticism of DoD’s decision to buy from a DISA-approved integrator commercial space segment capacity…
Read MoreWill the DoD Invite Industry Into Its COMSATCOM Policy Planning In a Meaningful Way?
XTAR – and the satellite industry in general – are encouraged to see the DoD taking steps to formalize the role that satellite operators play in the military space architecture. In January, the Defense Business Board (DBB), an independent group authorized by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, produced a report containing recommendations for…
Read MoreSATELLITE 2013 – Sequestration, HTS, Terminal Upgrades, & Mr. Kendall
SATELLITE 2013 is fast receding in the rear view mirror, but there were a few things about this year’s show that stayed with me and my XTAR colleagues who attended the three day annual conference and exhibit. Not surprisingly, the most talked-about issue was sequestration and the impact it will (not “might”) have on the…
Read MoreCan Hosted Payloads Continue to Link XTAR with Government Users?
It was with some dismay that I read the “Guidance for Obtaining Military SATCOM Services from a Commercial Provider via Hosted Payloads”, issued by the DoD’s CIO office in September 2012. The tone and direction provided within this document come across as extremely proscriptive; risking the conclusion that hosted payloads for DoD users would be…
Read MoreThe Value Proposition for Commercial X-Band
Recently, I received a call from a colleague in the Pentagon. He was preparing a report on the value of commercial X-band to DoD and reached out to me for some background. Naturally, I was more than happy to provide him with the material he sought.
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