US Army Uses SES MEO Technology in Multi-Orbit Tests

Via Satellite illustration

SES Government Solutions has been involved in a series of trials with the U.S. Army that have tested commercial satellite constellations in multiple orbits, as well as services and ground terminals. SES revealed details of the trials on Dec. 7. The tests are part of the U.S. government’s effort to establish Multi-Domain Operations (MDO) by 2028.

Recently, the U.S. Army announced its integrated ground terminal, Phoenix E-Model, would serve Expeditionary Signal Battalion – Enhanced (ESB-E) formations with the likelihood of expanding operations from traditional Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO) satellites to leveraging commercial Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) constellations.

SES Government Solutions, in close cooperation with Lite Coms, carried out extensive work to update the legacy U.S. Army Phoenix Terminal to be MEO capable for the U.S. Army. The companies said the resultant Lite Sat 2.2A terminal delivers 50 Mbs on a Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) GEO network and up to 600 x 600 Mbps on SES’s O3b MEO system.

“MEO satellites are unique in their capabilities and SES operates the world’s only commercial MEO satellite constellation. Early next year, SES will launch its second-generation MEO system, O3b mPOWER, which promises to meet and exceed the connectivity requirements of today’s warfighting technologies — delivering flexible and secure fiber-like connectivity anywhere the mission requires,” said retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Pete Hoene, president and CEO of SES Government Solutions.