The U.S. Air Force is funding a new round of experiments with satellite internet providers in an effort to bring connectivity to military aircraft and ground vehicles.
The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) in 2023 awarded $250 million worth of contracts to commercial satellite operators and defense contractors for various experiments. These projects are part of the Defense Experimentation Using Commercial Space Internet, or DEUCSI, an AFRL program launched in 2017 to explore the capabilities of commercial space internet constellations — in geosynchronous, medium and low Earth orbits — to connect military platforms with user terminals that can talk to multiple space broadband providers.
The program made news in late 2018 when it awarded SpaceX a $28 million contract to experiment with Starlink, which consisted of just two test satellites in orbit and was soon to be followed by 60 more test satellites by mid-2019. AFRL’s deal was seen as a key endorsement of Starlink’s ambitious plans to become a massive network of internet-beaming satellites.
DEUCSI kept a low profile in recent years, but 2023 saw a surge in activity marked by several major contract awards announced by AFRL:
- Intelsat in December received a $9 million contract to develop and test a satellite communications terminal capable of operating with multiple commercial space internet constellations in low, medium and geostationary Earth orbits. The terminal has to be lightweight and small to integrate on aircraft platforms.
- SES Space & Defense in September was awarded a $30 million contract to conduct a series of tests to integrate space broadband services for use cases in the Arctic region and airborne communications.
- Raytheon won a $36 million contract in June to conduct experiments to communicate with military platforms via multiple commercial space internet constellations in various orbital regimes using common user terminal and hardware elements….
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