The Next Decade in Space Innovation
This month, Satellite Executive Briefing invited the Chairperson of the Satellite Industry Association (SIA) Stuart Daughtridge to share his views on trends in the industry. Daughtridge is also the Vice President of Advanced Technology for Kratos. He takes a closer look at the revolution taking place in the satellite industry, up in space – and on the ground. Follows are his insights:
The Ground Segment
In the mid-1990s I started working at a start-up satellite operator that had just gotten funding for their satellite. My first job was to write the specifications for the ground system and lead the procurement effort. The night before we were to release the RFP for the ground system, I was called into the president of the company’s office where I was told that when they raised the funding they received money for the satellite, the launch vehicle, and the insurance, but had forgotten the ground system, so we needed to get vendor financing. The ground system has always been the Rodney Dangerfield of the space industry (for you younger readers, he “got no respect”). That is changing and I believe that 2020 will become the decade of the ground system, where it will get the attention it deserves.
Innovation and Growth in Space
The satellite launch and manufacturing sectors have experienced tremendous growth and innovation over the years. New players in the launch industry such as SpaceX, Blue Origin and Rocket Labs have made their impact felt based on their pricing and performance models. There are also more than one hundred start-up companies all working to develop new and disruptive launch capabilities.
The satellite manufacturing sector has also seen massive innovation with smallsat applications, High Throughput Satellites (HTS), software defined payloads and LEO and MEO constellations that include volume manufacturing assembly lines.
A Growing Revolution on the Ground
One area that has lagged in this innovation in space has been the satellite ground segment, whose architecture and operation has not changed much in decades. These legacy analog architectures were designed for bent-pipe, fixed satellite delivery models with relatively static payloads and not the newer satellite architectures with reconfigurable and dynamic payloads and service models. But that is changing.
Just as the terrestrial world moved from static to more dynamic, programmable and scalable networks to address networking and 3G/4G wireless challenges, satellite ground systems will start leveraging the same digital technologies including Software Defined Networking (SDN), virtualization, the cloud, and in some cases Electronically Steerable Antennas (ESAs) to become more dynamic to unlock the value of these newer and more innovative satellite architectures. This digital transformation will enable ground systems to virtualize and orchestrate operations to support a highly dynamic and automated service environment, provide massive low cost scalability and enable distributed architectures.
Kicking-off to the Decade of the Ground
The move towards a digital and dynamic ground architecture is real and happening. It started in the “NewSpace” market, where the launch of thousands of smallsats created the need for lower cost and scalable ground systems. With no legacy infrastructure in place, smallsat operators adopted the latest advancements to build fully digital ground infrastructures using cloud and virtualization technologies to scale cost-effectively.
The smallsat and Earth Observation (EO) markets have deployed and used virtual infrastructure successfully for hundreds of missions. They are using cloud enabled software-based modems, front-end processors, and digital IF capabilities to process signals more efficiently and dynamically.
As the wider satellite industry moves towards digital and more dynamic ground architectures, there is the promise of a revolution on the ground that will enable the monetization and optimization of all of the innovation that has been created with the newer satellite payloads and their associated LEO, MEO and GEO constellations.
A Look Ahead…Interconnecting with Terrestrial and 5G
While the benefits of synchronizing satellites in space with the ground are clear, there is also great value in better integrating the satellite networks with terrestrial networks. Once migrated to a digital infrastructure, ground systems can operate more like today’s modern IP networks to seamlessly interconnect with telecom, wireless, and expanding 5G networks. This holds huge potential for the satellite industry to grow its share of the market by better integrating into the global communications grid and providing additional value, especially where terrestrial networks reach their limit.
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Stuart Daughtridge is SIA’s Executive Chair for 2020 and vice president of Advanced Technology for Kratos Space, Training and Cybersecurity. Daughtridge has extensive experience in the satellite and aerospace industry spanning over 30 years. In his current position, he leads Kratos’ satellite ground segment technology initiatives including the planning for the next generation of ground segment technology. In this role, he is focused on today’s innovative and advanced technologies that will enable the ground station to become more dynamic, scalable, secure and cost-effective for customers. Prior to his current role at Kratos, he has held several senior management positions within the company. Before joining Kratos, Daughtridge held various management and engineering positions with Orion Satellite Corporation, Intelsat, and Spacecom. He holds a Bachelor of Science from Lafayette College.
