DARPA Phoenix Program Manager Dave Barnhart gave the event’s keynote luncheon speech and provided a visual tour through the agency’s latest technological discoveries.

In order to repurpose valuable components such as antennas, the Phoenix will attach small satellites, or “satlets,” onto non-working spacecraft to take control of their components and give them new operational life. SS/L will study how to carry these satlets to orbit by giving them a ride on large commercial GEO satellites. Barnhart said the vision for this solution is for satlets to be packaged in multiples in a payload orbital delivery system (PODS).

   “After one of the PODS is dispensed, it will be met by a robotic vehicle designed to retrieve the satlets and attach them to the repurposed components,” Barnhart told attendees. “Ridesharing on large commercial spacecraft is an ideal way to bring the Phoenix satlets to GEO at major savings, compared to dedicated launches. The results of our studies will provide the needed specifics on the most effective ways to accomplish that.”

   The DARPA Phoenix program plans to demonstrate this capability in space between 2015 and 2016.

   “When a GEO communication satellite fails, it is traditionally moved into a graveyard orbit where it remains indefinitely,” Barnhart said, noting that the Super GEO orbit could be used to access these satellites. “Many of the satellites which are obsolete or have failed still have usable antennas, solar arrays and other components which are expected to last much longer than the life of the satellite, but currently there is no way to re-use them. DARPA pioneered on-orbit satellite servicing with the successful 2007 Orbital Express demonstrator mission. Future widespread pursuit of on-orbit satellite servicing would benefit from discussions regarding the broad spectrum of technical challenges and non-technical obstacles ranging from policy, legal and other constraints that may hamper progress in this field.”

   Barnhart explained how his agency had been seeking technical expertise to design a payload orbital delivery system and how governments can take advantage of the growing hosted payloads market. DARPA recently selected Space Systems/Loral (SS/L) to analyze and define aspects of its Phoenix program that are focused on repurposing non-working GEO satellites.

   “In concert with the global space community and our international partners, we hope to create innovative technologies and techniques for space-to-space activities,” Barnhart said. “If successful, re-using existing satellite components may not only dramatically lower the cost of GEO satellite missions for the U.S. Department of Defense’s needs, but may also serve to demonstrate, through advanced techniques and technology, a model for future on-orbit servicing activities.”

   The keynote lunch was followed by the event’s military forum, which evaluated how hosted payloads could best be utilized as military and government satcom alternatives.

   Joseph Vanderpoorten, Technical Director of the U.S. Air Force’s MILSATCOM Advanced Concept Group noted that the U.S. Department of Defense could spend as much as $1 billion over the next 10 years to piggyback its communications onto hosted payloads featured on commercial satellites, as confirmed by U.S. Air Force officials earlier this year. 

SES Government Solutions Director of Hosted Payloads Rich Pang and Vizada President Bob Baker both asserted that hosted payloads have proven themselves as a valuable satcom options and are increasingly being considered by the military to reduce costs, by transitioning some of its applications to commercially hosted payloads versus other alternatives as well as which applications would be best suited for a potential transition.

   The event also included a panel that outlined the future for hosting scientific and technology payloads on commercial satellites. NASA Rideshare Manager for the Office of the Chief Technologist Prasun Desai said that hosted payloads can provide the science community with almost everything that a satellite could provide in a much shorter time frame – from climate change monitoring and forecasting to rapid data delivery for projects on short notice.

   “A wide range of government and industry organizations such as NASA, the National Security Space Office, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), have expressed interest in hosted payloads,” Desai said. “This interest has led to definite plans, as we saw earlier this year with Space Systems/Loral agreeing to carry a NASA laser-optical communications terminal as a hosted payload on a satellite that will be launched in 2016.”  

   National Science Foundation (NSF) Program Director for Space Weather Research and Instrumentation Therese Moretto Jorgensen, however, said that the NSF had yet to see a need in investing in new platforms. “That doesn’t mean our ears and eyes aren’t open,” she said. “We were, after all, one of the earliest users of hosted payloads and we are always looking to be pioneers.”

   During the event’s final session, “Exploring the Potential of the Additional Hosted Payload Revenue Stream,” NSR Analyst Bradford Grady shared some good news for the hosted payload industry.

   “We expect commercial operators to earn more than $100 million in hosted payload equipment revenues in 2012, including engineering services and commercial satellite operator hosting services,” Grady told attendees. “We recently predicted that those same revenues are expected to range from $330.8 million to $554 million by 2022. This is a positive result that was generated by the excitement in the market. The money for hosted payloads is there. The movement on the U.S. government side is more than encouraging. Events like the Hosted Payload Summit show that the excitement is real and continuously building.”