U.S. Army Tests Multi-Orbit Solutions Leveraging MEO Capabilities Amid SES’s Upcoming O3b mPOWER Launch

December 07, 2021

SES Government Solutions supports the U.S. Army in conducting a series of cutting-edge trials and testing of commercial satellite constellations in multiple orbits, as well as services and ground terminals, in the U.S. Government’s effort to establish Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) by 2028.

Most recently, the U.S. Army announced its integrated ground terminal, Phoenix E-Model, would serve Expeditionary Signal Battalion - Enhanced (ESB-E) formations with the likelihood of expanding operations from traditional Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites to leveraging commercial Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellations. In this framework, SES GS, in close cooperation with Lite Coms, carried out extensive work to update the legacy US Army Phoenix Terminal to be MEO capable (AN/TSC-156(E) for the U.S. Army. The resultant Lite Sat 2.2A terminal delivers 50Mbs on a Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) GEO network and up to 600x600 Mbps on SES’s O3b MEO system.

Leveraging MEO satellite technologies provides the modern warfighter the resiliency, high- bandwidth, and low-latency required for mission assurance in contested environments against advanced adversaries.

“MEO satellites are unique in their capabilities and SES operates the world’s only commercial MEO satellite constellation,” said President and CEO of SES Government Solutions, Brigadier General Pete Hoene, USAF (retired). “Early next year, SES will launch its second-generation MEO system, O3b mPOWER, which promises to meet and exceed the connectivity requirements of today’s warfighting technologies - delivering flexible and secure fiber-like connectivity anywhere the mission requires.”

In alignment with the Army’s stance on MDO, multi-orbit SATCOM solutions that leverage MEO significantly extend the Army’s ability to securely transport data between the command post, soldiers-on-the-move, as well as multiple sensors in support of Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2). As the Army increasingly relies on data and network-enabled platforms for deployed warfighters, having interoperable communication systems that are flexible and assured is essential to capturing a common operating picture (COP) for multi-domain operations.