Astrium wins commercial SATCOM contract with EDA, ESCPC

French satellite communications company Astrium Services will be providing commercial satellite communications capacity to the five members of the European Defense Agency (EDA.) The European Satellite Communications Procurement Cell (ESCPC) of the EDA will be managing the innovative SATCOM contract with Astrium.

Astrium pioneered the provision of military SATCOM services to governments and defense ministries alike. It was the first European company to provide commercial satellite communications to the EDA through the ESCPC-managed scheme.

Astrium Services offers commercial satellite communications services in the C-band, Ku-band, and Ka-band. By providing the EDA with reliable and secure access to these bands, Astrium will be able to cater to the needs of the European militaries. It will also be able to provide value-added services such as leasing SATCOM terminals.

The ESCPC will coordinate its member nations when they pool their needs, purchase services, and trade satellite communications capacity. Its current members are France, Italy, Poland, Romania, and the United Kingdom.

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Thales Alenia Space wins MILSATCOM study contract with France

Thales Alenia Space secured a design contract with the DGA (Direction Générale de l'Armement,) the French defense procurement agency. The Cannes, France-based satellite manufacturer will be studying future military satellite communications capacity set to enter service in 2019 on behalf of the French Ministry of Defense.

The DGA-sponsored study will fit into the plan to replace the two Syracuse III satellites that Thales Alenia Space built and operated. The study will also complement the Sicral 2 and Athena Fidus satellites developed and built by Thales Alenia Space and Italy in a cooperative venture.

Thales Alenia Space will analyze the French military's future needs for satellite communications (MILSATCOM) capacity. It will aso pore over acquisition procedures and collaboration schemes that will hasten development, ensure efficiency, and save money for all participants.

As the industrial partner of the French and Italian ministries of defense and space agencies, Thales Alenia Space helped create the first two -and, so far, the only two- collaborative European programs on space communications for security and defense.

The satellite manufacturer will face significant issues throughout the course of replacing existing satellite communications capacity. Thales Alenia Space must ensure strategic security, ensure the delivery of critical MILSATCOM capacity when its partner nations deploy their armed forces on foreign soil, and accomplish all of this within a budget limited by the ongoing economic crisis.

Military science in history and the academe

In military history, military science had been used during the period of Industrial Revolution, a period from 1750 to 1850 where changes in agriculture manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times. It was used as a general term to refer to all matters of military theory and technology application as a single academic discipline, “academia,” the community of students and scholars engaged in higher education and research. This includes that of the deployment and employment of troops in peacetime or in battle.

In military education, military science is often the name of the academic department in the education institution (“higher,” “post-secondary,” “tertiary,” or third level education”), a division of a university--the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology--or school faculty devoted to a particular academic discipline, that administers officer candidate education/school, or “Officer Cadet School (OCS), or institutions which train civilians and enlisted personnel in order for them to gain a commission as officers in the armed forces of a country. However, this education usually focuses on the officer leadership training and basic information about employment of military theories, concepts, methods and systems, and officer graduates, a rank in some militaries of the world that is an appointed position while a person is in training to become an officer, are not military scientists on completion of studies, but rather junior military officers, a military rank, a system of hierarchical relationships in armed forces, police, intelligence agencies or other institutions organized along military lines.

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Satellite operators looking to service military drones

Military drones are a crucial component of military operations. These unmanned aerial vehicles are not only capable of remote sensing and surveillance applications, they help minimize human casualties because they are remotely operated. Missions previously tasked to soldiers - like armed attacks, and search and rescue operations - can be accomplished using drones. However, since UAV's are either remotely controlled or autonomous, the machines require extensive bandwidth to work. 

Commercial satellite operators are looking into this demand from the military sector to improve business. Military organizations, as much as possible, would rather rely on government-owned satellites. However, more and more drones are being developed and used, and assistance from satellite communications companies are becoming inevitable. The aerial vehicles are now relying on commercial satellite transponders to work.

Military drones in action

Companies like Intelsat General and Inmarsat are looking at supplementing the bandwidth requirements of military drones. The latter has already been supplying satellite solutions for ground-based communications of US troops in Afghanistan. However, military operations in the Middle East are wrapping up, and satellite operators are looking into servicing drones to be deployed in the US and other critical regions.

But commercial satellite operators foraying into the defense industry is not unheard of. Aside from Inmarsat, NewSat Australia has been providing satellite communications via its Perth teleport to Proactive Communications, which delivers mission critical communications for government-personnel in the Middle East.

Suffice to say, the military sector and the satellite industry are natural fit for business. 

UAV's are not only limited to military use too. Mining companies, and scientific exploration teams employ drones for mineral exploration and scientific research, especially in regions which are dangerous to piloted craft. Even the World Wide Fund for Nature is taking advantage of the powerful drones to help its global, wildlife conservation efforts.

For now, operators are intent on offering their powerful satellite and VSAT services to the military, who are more than willing to meet their increasing demand.