[Satellite TODAY Insider 04-01-11] Seven of the satellite industry’s biggest companies have formed the Hosted Payload Alliance (HPA), which aims to promote potential benefits of hosted government payloads on commercial satellites, the companies announced March 30.
    Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, Intelsat General, Iridium Communications, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Orbital Sciences, SES World Skies U.S. Government Solutions and Space Systems/Loral will serve as HPA steering committee members. Iridium Executive Vice President Don Thoma will serve as chairman of the committee.
    The committee was established at the SATELLITE 2011 conference in Washington, D.C., where it drafted its charter to establish HPA objectives and goals. The broad-based organization’s charter outlined its main mission to increase awareness of hosted payloads as a means of providing the U.S. government with timely and cost-effective space-based capabilities, including: communications, Earth observation, remote sensing, research and development, space situational awareness and forecasting electromagnetic solar storms in space.
    "An important goal of this group is to act as a source of subject-matter expertise to educate stakeholders in the public and private sectors on the numerous opportunities for hosted payloads on commercial launch spacecraft," Thoma said in a statement.
    U.S. Air Force Gen. Lance Lord, a former commander of the Air Force Space Command who managed development, acquisition and operation of U.S. military space and missile systems, said current U.S. space policy developments created the perfect environment for HPA’s launch.
    "The 2010 U.S. National Space Policy calls for public-private partnerships with the commercial satellite industry to fill potential gaps, specifically citing hosted payloads, which the public sector might not have the resources to provide," said Lord. "The policy statement also encourages federal departments and agencies to seek out nontraditional arrangements to leverage commercial capabilities. As government funding for important space-based sensor programs continues to be cut or postponed, private industry will be called upon to play an important role in providing affordable and timely capabilities to meet those mission needs."
    HPA said it expects to be joined by other satellite operators, satellite manufacturers and system integrators. The organization will hold its first meeting in conjunction with the 2011 National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo.