Kevin Steen, CEO of OneWeb Technologies, said there is an increased demand from the U.S. government for low-Earth orbit constellations to provide satellite communications capabilities in support of a range of military and civilian applications.
In a Kratos Defense & Security Solutions‘ Constellations podcast, Steen said LEO constellations provide low latency broadband services to support critical military missions and enable network coverage in internet-deprived environments.
According to Steen, the combination of high bandwidth and low latency is crucial to providing the military with the right intelligence at the right time to inform real-time decision-making.
He said other LEO satellite applications were multidomain unmanned operations, smaller lightweight ultra-portable terminals and connectivity between satellites.
“Those are the kinds of specialized services that they are looking for as satellite becomes a true, broader domain, if you will, in defending our country and protecting our interests,” Steen said.
OneWeb Technologies is the proxy company of U.K.-headquartered satellite operator OneWeb that solely focuses on the U.S. government.