Intelsat Wins U.S. Defense Department Low Earth Orbit Satellite Opportunity

August 22, 2023

Intelsat has been tapped to provide commercial satellite communications bandwidth, equipment and services to the U.S. Defense Department, as part of a 10-year indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity (IDIQ) U.S. Space Force contract.

“As a trusted provider of resilient satellite communication services to the U.S. Government for 60 years, Intelsat is uniquely positioned to offer value-added solutions to the Defense Department through this important program,” said Dave Micha, president of Intelsat Government Solutions. “Our partnerships with LEO operators, combined with our fleet of more than 55 GEO satellites, 80 global teleports, security operations center and the largest terrestrial network in the world, positions Intelsat to provide strong but flexible communications during critical missions.”

The multi-award, multi-participant contract is part of the Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (pLEO) program and is valued up to $900 million over 10 years. The Defense Department pLEO program provides a network of LEO communication satellites, which provides reliability even if there is disruption of a small number of assets.