October 15, 2024 | International, Land
September 11, 2018 | International, C4ISR
SES wants fleet of identical, interchangeable satellites
by Debra Werner
PARIS — Fleet operator SES plans to revolutionize satellite purchasing and operations.
Instead of buying individual satellites tailored for a specific job at a precise orbital location as it has for decades, the Luxembourg-based company is seeking homogenous satellites with digitally processed payloads it can reconfigure to perform any job in geostationary or medium Earth orbit.
“We will only buy one type of satellite going forward,” Steve Collar, SES president and chief executive, told reporters Sept. 10 at the World Satellite Business Week conference here. “Exactly the same spacecraft can be operated at 19.2 degrees, 23.5 degrees, 108 degrees East, it doesn't matter. We can put them wherever we want.”
If the SES board of directors approves the plan, SES will solicit proposals by the end of the month and begin purchasing in early 2019 the new 2.5 to 2.9-ton spacecraft offering approximately 12.5 kilowatts of power, said Martin Halliwell, SES chief technology officer, who leads the initiative.
Prior to announcing its plan, SES worked with 11 potential satellite vendors and selected three for continued cooperation. Company executives declined to name the vendors.
SES is embarking on this campaign because it expects satellites to be an integral part of evolving global communications networks. To perform that role, however, the industry will need to expand satellite production dramatically, Collar said.
“If we get the savings we think we will, we will be able to significantly scale our network without spending more or more modestly scale our network and spend less,” Collar said. “We haven't yet decided where that comes out.”
To further improve economies of scale, SES is encouraging manufacturers to share the new spacecraft design with other customers. “Let's make the party as big as possible,” Halliwell said. Collar added, “We think it will improve the economics of the whole industry.”
SES plans to stack three of its future satellites, which don't yet have a brand name, on rockets. The rockets could then drop them off in medium Earth or geostationary transfer orbit, as needed, Halliwell said.
SES operates 56 satellites in geostationary orbit and 16 O3B satellites in medium Earth orbit. The firm plans to launch four more O3B satellites in 2019. SES also is investing more than 1 billion euros ($1.16 billion) in O3B mPower, a seven-satellite constellation built by Boeing for internet and data connectivity that is slated to begin launching in 2021.
SES's plans to fly the new reprogrammable satellites comes after mPower, Collar said.
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October 29, 2021 | International, Aerospace
La lutte anti-drone va se renforcer à Paris
Dans la perspective des Jeux Olympiques de 2024 qui se tiendront à Paris, la Direction générale de l'armement (DGA) a lancé une compétition l'année dernière pour identifier des solutions européennes de lutte anti-drones. En novembre, la DGA fera des essais sur les dispositifs proposés par plusieurs industriels. Thales et CS Group sont dans la compétition comme Cerbair avec le système Hydra et avec MBDA, de même qu'ADP avec la société Hologarde et le système Bassalt. Le but est de doter la France d'une quinzaine de systèmes de détection et de neutralisation de drones avant 2023. La startup Cerbair, lancée sur le marché de la lutte anti-drones depuis 2015, a annoncé lors du Salon Milipol un partenariat stratégique avec le spécialiste français de la détection et du brouillage des communications, la société grenobloise Keas. Cerbair et Keas travaillent avec le missilier MBDA sur une lutte contre les drones de guerre avec le projet Sky Warden. Le marché de la lutte anti-drones est naissant, et estimé à environ 1,5 Md$. Les Echos du 26 octobre
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June 22, 2023 | International, Other Defence
IDEaS Innovator Update
Dear Canadian Innovators, On Monday, 19 June, NATO DIANA launched its first three pilot challenges. Applications are now open to world-class innovators who have exceptional ideas to help solve dual-use critical defence and security problems. DIANA’s Pilot Challenge call focuses on the following three areas: Energy Resilience: In an uncertain and changing world, there is an urgent need for more reliable, resilient, and efficient energy solutions – particularly in the aftermath of natural disasters or in conflict zones. Climate change and its consequences will only make that need greater. For this challenge, DIANA is therefore seeking technology solutions that enable the modular design of microgrids that can meet supply demands reliably. Of interest are technologies and systems that are capable of scaling and that are interoperable with other similar systems; renewable power generation; power storage; hardware and software for adaptive and intelligent power conditioning and management; and technologies for the detection and protection of the physical system and components from malicious cyber-attack. Download the Problem Statement here Secure Information Sharing: By secure information sharing, we typically mean the ability to exchange documents and other static content with others safely, without the risk of interference by malicious actors. However, while protecting document-based information transfer in an office environment is important, it is a simpler task than securing multiple forms of information flow when working in the field or on the move, as is often the case with first-responders, peacekeeping forces and the military. For this challenge, DIANA is looking for ways of creating a secure and trusted information environment – with the emphasis on live data streams such as those used to provide near real-time video, augmented reality feeds, digital radio and more. Of particular interest are hardware and software solutions that operate over open networks and that can function in ‘austere’ or ‘disadvantaged’ environments. Download the Problem Statement here Sensing and Surveillance: Coastal waters are vital to the economic and security interests of the countries whose borders they touch, and critical to all who rely on them for commerce, transportation, recreation, and food, for example. Yet, even today, our understanding of the undersea environment is limited – not least because many standard methods of observation don’t work well underwater and because the marine environment is difficult to access and to work in for extended periods. For this challenge, DIANA is seeking components and systems for sensing and information gathering in subsurface coastal zones. Applications of interest might include, but are not limited to, novel techniques and/or advanced capabilities for seafloor mapping, undersea infrastructure monitoring, manmade object and marine-life tracking, climate-change-effects sensing, and patterns-of-life visualisations. Download the Problem Statement here The call for proposals will be open until 25 August 2023. In Phase one of the DIANA accelerator program, approximately 30 innovators will receive grant funding of $150,000 CAD/ € 100,000 EUR starting in late 2023. At the end of Phase One, a smaller number of companies will be offered an additional grant of up to $450,000 CAD/ € 300,000 EUR and be invited to participate in Phase Two of the accelerator programme called ‘Scale’. During this second six months, companies will focus on demonstrating their technological solution, developing transition strategies, and working with investors and end users to identify pathways to adoption. Once DIANA achieves full operating capability in 2025, DIANA will run up to ten challenge programmes per year and have the capacity to interact with hundreds of innovators each year. The application portal can be accessed via DIANA’s official website. Through the web link and the DIANA LinkedIn page, you can also find additional information related to the initiative and stay notified on all of DIANA’s publications and updates. The Department of National Defence is looking forward to seeing our Canadian Innovator Community actively participating in the NATO DIANA program and wishes you luck in this process. Note – any questions related to DIANA challenges or eligibility should be directed to NATO DIANA via DIANA’s official website, linked here.