The X-Factor: A SATCOM Blog
A Look at “S4” of Federal Q1 &Q2 of FY 2014
By Guest Blogger Lt. General William Donahue, USAF (Ret.) – The consequences of “S4” (sequestration, shutdown, Snowden, and snow) were real and material during the first half of FY 2014. In spite of all the “S” that hit the fan, I applaud the successful budget deal that guided our leaders back toward their real job: funding the…
COMSATCOM Acquisition Primer – How Did We Get Here?
An XTAR Blog Series As I said in my introductory post to this series, DoD acquisition reform for commercial satcom is a complicated subject. Here are some of what I believe to be the reasons why this process has become so difficult, including the origins and history behind the erratic efforts at reform over the…
COMSATCOM Acquisition Primer Kick Off
An XTAR Blog Series Like our fellow American commercial satellite operators, XTAR is deeply embroiled in the debate surrounding COMSATCOM acquisition reform. As a service provider to U.S. Government users for over a decade, we’ve seen all types of attempted reforms – the entire gamut – from prudence to excess.
Solutions to Manage the Expanding Volume of ISR Data
I recently read that approximately ninety percent of the total data in the world was created in just the last two years alone. The DoD itself has an inconceivable amount of data from streaming video. The intelligence community finds itself inundated as data collection far outpaces analysis. Our industry is seeking ways to support efficient…
Congress and Its Recent Role in COMSATCOM Acquisition Reform
Last month, Representative Mike Rogers (R-MI, 8th District), chairman of the House Armed Services Strategic Forces subcommittee, authored an opinion piece in Space News about procuring commercial satellite services. He argued for the urgent need to change this process to save money, but more importantly, to protect our armed forces. XTAR strongly supports the Congressman’s…
At the Crossroads of Technology and Comfort
DoD COMSATCOM acquisition reform is a complicated subject, even without the current acquisition process that stands in the way. Driven by budget concerns – having to cut budget spend in the face of sequestration and other economic factors that are reducing the money available to DoD – the question is this: Can DoD continue to…
Maintaining Security for Hosted Payloads
I recently participated in the annual Hosted Payload Summit here in Washington, D.C. The critical issue of security for government users of hosted payloads was top of everyone’s mind. These users will not deploy their sensitive and critical applications on hosted payloads if they feel that cyber-security measures have not been well defined and successfully…
90-Day Study: The Utilization Distraction
The working group tasked to accomplish Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics) Frank Kendall’s 90-Day Study on COMSATCOM acquisition reform appears to have veered off track. We are hearing reports that it will go no further with Mr. Kendall’s core assignment until it addresses the question of DoD “bandwidth utilization”. This tangential issue…
The Big Picture: Forest & Trees
General William L. Shelton, Air Force Space Command, in recent remarks described DoD’s current spending on space programs of record as “locked in” until the mid-2020s. Concluding DoD is locked into the current spending path without viable alternatives for ten or more years belies the many good reform efforts of other parties. These include the…
Apples-to-Satellites: What Are We Comparing?
The Senate Armed Services Committee recently requested five-, 10-, and 25-year strategic plans from DoD for the appropriate blend of military and commercial satellite bandwidth. Presumably, the committee is seeking cost-avoidance in the present and cost-savings in the long run. I have not actually seen any attempt at this type of comparison for several years. Industry…