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ATLAS Wins Defense Innovation Unit Award for Unified Federated Network

June 08, 2022

ATLAS Space Operations announced that the Defense Innovation Unit awarded it the Hybrid Space Architecture (HSA) contract to demonstrate a federated network. Leveraging its operational experience and prior development activity, the HSA capability represents a major advancement in network management, which is particularly meaningful for aging communications infrastructure. Building on ATLAS' proprietary technology to easily integrate complex disparate systems, the federated network invites new possibilities that meet the evolving needs of DoD and commercial clients.

Whereas ATLAS’ prior work with disparate networks enabled easy intra-network communications, its HSA initiative introduces capabilities that are fully federated — allowing communication to flow across disparate government and commercial networks. Now, spacecraft and antenna operators have the opportunity to make use of any participating network regardless of the site owner or hardware.

Leveraging its cloud-hosted Freedom™ Network Management Platform, ATLAS enables the seamless transfer of data streams across DoD, Civil, and commercial platforms. The inter-network operability provided by Freedom™ allows each of these operators to conduct their communications across a newly available slew of infrastructure, enabling easy offloading of expiring infrastructure.

“The progress ATLAS has made in the HSA realm is a testament to the resilience and flexibility of our Freedom™ Software Platform. For DoD and commercial clients alike, federated networks are truly the rising tide that is lifting all ships,” said Ed McCarty, ATLAS Vice President of Global Sales.

McCarty added, “ATLAS is proud to offer this innovative capability to our clients while maintaining the same secure and cost-effective solution that they are used to. Without changing the client experience, we are opening up a whole new world of communications avenues. It’s another example of our dedication to connecting humanity through space.”

The future of sustainable space communications includes a mix of existing and new infrastructure. ATLAS’ Hybrid Space Architecture offers a solution that enables new and old technologies to operate across the same platform, creating new opportunities for the entire domain of ground-space data transfer. To address the hardware constraints of varied clients, growing satellite counts, and expanding applications, ATLAS is applying its innovative Freedom™ software at a crucial point for the industry.