US Air Force eyes multi-orbit SATCOM capabilities
The branch intends to integrate government, military and commercial SATCOM. (Photo: US Space Force)
The service is interested in the benefits it can provide such as network throughput, low latency, and resiliency for encrypted and non-encrypted communications.
The US Air Force (USAF) has been increasing efforts to improve its satellite communications (SATCOM) using multi-orbit capabilities in order to enable its aircraft fleet to operate and succeed in contested, congested environments.
Under the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) programme, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has been working on the development of a SATCOM network which can integrate government, military and commercial constellations and bandwidth.
One of its goals is to provide path-agnostic communications enabled by a resilient, low-latency broadband connectivity capable of using both Ku- and Ka-band Geostationary (GEO), Medium (MEO) and Low-Earth Orbit
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