IN Brief:
- The new flyaway platform is being designed for simultaneous Mil-X, Mil Ka, commercial Ka, and Ku-band connectivity.
- Intellian says the deployable terminals will support LEO, MEO, GEO, and HEO networks and can be operational within 30 minutes.
- Development targets full WGS certification, MIL-SPEC compliance, and interoperability with emerging and sovereign NGSO constellations.
Intellian Technologies and Network Innovations are developing a family of tactical Wideband Global SATCOM flyaway terminals intended to combine military and commercial frequency bands with support for several satellite-orbit architectures.
The companies have entered a strategic partnership to develop and distribute the terminals for military and government customers. The planned platform will support simultaneous Mil-X, military Ka-band, commercial Ka-band and Ku-band connectivity, with electronic switching across an extended section of the Ka-band frequency range.
The multi-band design is intended to reduce dependence on separate terminal architectures for different satellite services. It is being developed around the US Wideband Global SATCOM constellation while also supporting low Earth orbit, medium Earth orbit, geostationary orbit and highly elliptical orbit networks.
Intellian says a deployed system will be capable of becoming operational in as little as 30 minutes. Flyaway terminals place RF electronics, processing, power supplies, antenna hardware and rugged mechanical structures into an assembly that must be transported repeatedly while maintaining the link performance required by the selected frequency bands.
The companies are also developing interoperability with commercial networks and sovereign non-geostationary constellations. Supporting those systems alongside WGS broadens the electronics requirement because frequency allocation, orbital movement, beam behaviour and network control can differ significantly between services.
Electronic frequency switching is central to the proposed architecture. The terminal is intended to move between military and commercial Ka-band services without requiring completely separate equipment for each operating case, while retaining X-band and Ku-band capability.
Final RF performance will depend on the configuration taken through qualification, but the development target is a deployable platform able to draw connectivity from several available satellite networks as mission requirements and network availability change.
Intellian and Network Innovations are targeting full WGS certification and compliance with relevant MIL-SPEC requirements. Compatibility with WGS extends beyond operating within the appropriate frequency range: RF characteristics, control behaviour, environmental performance and interoperability have to be demonstrated against the applicable requirements.
The partnership combines Intellian’s work in satellite terminals, RF engineering, rugged communications and multi-orbit systems with Network Innovations’ systems-integration and military-market experience. Network Innovations has supported WGS users for more than two decades.
Intellian already produces terminals for maritime, enterprise and government applications, including equipment designed for multi-orbit satellite services. The flyaway programme extends that work into a platform developed around rapid deployment and simultaneous use of military and commercial spectrum.
Packaging will be a substantial part of the engineering. Antenna structures and RF paths have to remain mechanically stable after transport and repeated setup, while power conversion, processors and communications hardware have to operate inside an enclosure that is smaller and less environmentally controlled than a fixed ground station.
Multi-orbit operation adds further control requirements. A GEO link deals with a satellite that appears relatively fixed in the sky, while LEO and MEO services require tracking and handover as satellites move through the terminal’s field of view. The control electronics and network software therefore have to manage more than frequency selection alone.
Non-WGS commercial versions are also planned for government, enterprise and critical-communications applications where formal WGS certification is unnecessary. That approach could allow the same underlying multi-band architecture to be configured for different users while changing certification, network access and operating software around a common hardware base.
A shared terminal family could also reduce the amount of duplicated engineering across deployments. RF switching, modem and control functions, antenna control, power conversion and environmental qualification can be developed around one architecture instead of being repeated for several independent deployable systems.
The programme now moves towards qualification and productisation. WGS certification, environmental compliance and interoperability with the targeted satellite networks will determine how much of the proposed multi-band flexibility carries from the development system into operational hardware.
