Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch of Inmarsat Government has said industry stakeholders are concerned about the lack of a long-term acquisition strategy for commercial satellite communication services within the government, SpaceNews reported Wednesday. “If they don’t have procurement and O&M [operations and maintenance] funds, then the $49.5M in [research, development, testing and evaluation] will not be enough to […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch of Inmarsat Government has said leaders at the Department of Defense must incorporate procurement and funding for operations and maintenance into the Future Years Defense Program to streamline the acquisition of commercial satellite communications capabilities as part of the integrated architecture. “This kind of strategic planning will lay a foundation of optimal satcom acquisition – the continuation […] More

Satellite industry representatives gathered at the SMM Hamburg maritime conference in Germany last month to discuss global communications services for use with autonomous marine vessels, Space News reported Thursday. Gerbrand Schalkwijk, deputy president at Inmarsat‘s maritime business, said that customers are looking to have remote engine monitoring, IT support and electronic chart update functions in […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Inmarsat Government, has said government and military leaders should leverage commercial satellite communications platforms to support critical missions through the satcom-as-a-service business model. Cowen-Hirsch wrote in a MilsatMagazine piece that the business model is designed for global mobility and to deliver “end-to-end, communication infrastructure from resilient satellite […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president of government strategy and policy at Inmarsat Government, has said warfighters and government users in hostile and remote environments depend on resilient satellite communications platforms. Cowen-Hirsch wrote in a Signal magazine piece published Monday that such satcom systems “must be accessible at a moment’s notice.” She noted how government leaders acknowledge the value of […] More

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president of government strategy and policy at Inmarsat Government, has said latest government efforts could pave the way for a cultural change that would leverage commercial satellite communications systems to support military missions. She wrote in a Via Satellite piece posted Friday that one of those efforts is the House Appropriations Committee’s move […] More

COMSAT has tested and implemented its L-band satellite connectivity technology on multiple aerial and maritime platforms for the U.S. government, Satnews reported Tuesday The Wideband Steaming L-Band system is designed to increase the performance of terminals via a communications link from antenna-equipped ground vehicles, fixed-wing aircraft and ground vehicles. WiSL uses an Inmarsat-built space and ground network to help users […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautical systems business flew an MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely piloted aircraft Tuesday from Grand Forks, N.D., to a U.K. air force station located in Gloucestershire, England. The company said Tuesday it used Inmarsat‘s SwiftBroadband L-band satellite communications system to manage the first trans-Atlantic flight of the medium-altitude, long-endurance RPA. SkyGuardian will be presented at the three-day Royal […] More

General Atomics‘ aeronautics systems business announced it will fly its MQ-9B SkyGuardian remotely-piloted aircraft from Grand Folks, N.D. to Gloucestershire, England, marking the first trans-Atlantic flight of a medium-altitude, long-endurance RPA. The company said Monday it will leverage Inmarsat‘s SwiftBroadband satellite to control and configure the functions of the aircraft. After the flight, the RPA will be displayed at the  […] More

A Kratos Defense & Security Solutions subsidiary has received a potential $2.6 million contract to develop a proof-of-concept platform designed to increase the resiliency and capacity of wideband satellite communications systems and deliver roaming capability to government satcom users. Kratos RT Logic will demonstrate the proof-of-concept system with a flexible modem interface that works to […] More

Women in Technology has named the finalists for the nonprofit organization’s 19th Annual Leadership Awards, which recognize prominent female industry and government technology professionals. WIT said Wednesday it will honor awardees during its gala ceremony that will be held on May 17 in Tysons Corner, Virginia. Finalists include Jill Singer, vice president of national security for AT&T‘s public […] More

A Lockheed Martin satellite-based augmentation system testbed has begun to broadcast in dual frequency, multi-constellation as part of a two-year collaborative research project between the company and the government of Australia, Inside GNSS reported Friday. The second-generation SBAS testbed is designed to help increase the efficiency, innovation, productivity and safety of various industrial and research sectors […] More