Intelsat General and General Atomics Demonstrate a Path Forward for Reaper and Predator UAS to Fly Confidently with Intelsat Epic^NG Beam Switching
 

November 15, 2017

Intelsat General successfully demonstrated beam switching capabilities of an in-flight unmanned aircraft system (UAS) operating on the company’s Intelsat 29e satellite.
 
The tests validated the compatibility of the Intelsat Epic^NG platform with the newly developed beam switching capability of the Block 5 Predator® B/MQ-9 from General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA-ASI).  This is the first in-flight switch of an MQ-9 on an HTS satellite.  Beam switching is particularly important for U.S. and allied military forces looking to expand UAS operations to high performance, multiple-spot beam, high-throughput satellites such as Intelsat Epic^NG.
 
The multiple spot beam design inherent in high-throughput satellites like the Intelsat Epic^NG system substantially increase the satellite’s throughput, allows for the use of much smaller antennas, higher performance from existing antennas, and enhances the security on the satellite over traditional wide beam satellites.  This same design also requires that mobility applications across large geographic areas must traverse multiple spot beams on the satellite. 
 
These results, verified by General Atomics, demonstrate a path forward for deployed Reaper and Predator UAS to fly confidently on Intelsat Epic^NG, including the additional benefits of higher throughput capabilities, extensive footprint and enhanced resilience.
 
“The images and other data collected by unmanned aircraft systems are critical for many military operations,” said Skot Butler, President of Intelsat General Corporation. “These tests demonstrate the capability of the high-throughput Intelsat Epic^NG platform to support aircraft as they travel long distances across multiple spot beams.”
 
The tests were performed using the UAS operating out of GA-ASI’s flight test facility adjacent to the Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota. During the tests, the UAS flew 1,075 nautical miles round trip to enable it to switch between two spot beams on the Intelsat 29e satellite.  Command and control as well as sensor data transmissions from the aircraft were switched successfully multiple times between the two beams.
 
To conduct the testing, the FAA granted GA-ASI a Certificate of Waiver or Authorization (COA) that authorized the Block 5 MQ-9 to fly in airspace managed by air traffic controllers without the requirement of utilizing a “chase” airplane.  During the entire flight, control of the UAS was possible via the spot beams from Intelsat 29e. 
 
The Intelsat Epic^NG high-performance satellite platform provides government and military users with 2 to 6 times the bandwidth equivalent of conventional commercial satellites or the U.S. government’s Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellites.  The resiliency of commercial SATCOM is an important feature for government customers and Intelsat Epic^NG introduces an even higher level of protection. Anti-jamming capabilities are greatly enhanced with low-probability of intercept (LPI) and jamming-resilience on Intelsat Epic^NG satellites, even to non-hopping modems. Interference-mitigation capabilities like on-board power monitoring and notch filtering of interferers/unauthorized users as well as monitoring, re-routing, geo-location and identification of interferers means Intelsat Epic^NG SATCOM is better protected for deployment in contested environments.
 
Currently, there are 5 Intelsat Epic^NG satellites on-orbit covering approximately 80% of the earth’s landmasses and surrounding waters with high-throughput beams. In 2019, a sixth Intelsat Epic^NG satellite will be launched to cover Australia, the Pacific Ocean, and McMurdo Station in Antarctica.