Near Term Resilient Teleports for DoD SATCOM

Abstract

DoD SATCOM plays a critical role in US defense communications. Current SATCOM systems are nearing capacity in an environment with multiple threat vectors that compromise availability. In response to these challenges, US Space Strategy is moving away from large, centralized platforms to distributed, flexible platforms. Future systems envision cross-linked satellites and proliferated LEO. However, it is vital that as space systems are made more resilient, ground infrastructure is also strengthened through disaggregation. This paper proposes that near term solutions ‐ provided by or before 2030 ‐ could fall into three different Courses of Action (COAs): (1) a layered managed services network, (2) commercial teleport integration, or (3) proliferated ground. The performance of each of these COAs is evaluated to assess the costs and benefits of each approach. This paper recommends that these COAs be rolled out in succession based upon feasibility. A combination of the proposed COAs will help DoD SATCOM to bridge near term systems with long term goals and keep pace with a rapidly changing battlespace.