X-band for Mission Critical Communications · X-band for Mission Critical Communications ... Airbus...

X-band for Mission Critical CommunicationsGuaranteed communications wherever you are, whenever you need them. Discover why X-band is the military frequency of choice and what this means to you

1 X-band for Mission Critical Communications

X-band for Mission Critical Communications

Why X-band for Mission Critical Communications?

X-band satellite capacity is reserved exclusively for military and government organisations and is used for mission critical, sensitive command and control communications systems, where loss of communications is not an option.

Whether the need is for government, military, humanitarian, emergency response or other diplomatic communications, Airbus DS can provide uncontended capacity and availability wherever and whenever required on its’ own constellation of military secure X-band satellites.

Why X-band from Airbus Defence and Space?

• World’s first and largest commercial operator of hardened and protected X-band satellites compliant to NATO STANAG interoperability standards

• Access to 8 Skynet satellites – The world’s most powerful, commercially owned, X-band satellites. Additional access to X-band transponders on Anik G1

• Skynet 5’s flexible global and steerable spot beams can be quickly repositioned to provide high power coverage where the user requires it

• Skynet 5’s multi-beam switching capability delivers shaped and high gain footprints, optimizing a highly concentrated link for maximising the data to small terminals and blocking out sources of interference

• Uniquely designed to specifically support COTM (comms-on-the-move) operations making it the best choice for naval and airborne platforms. Skynet 5 is also capable of providing secure data links to submarine vessels and currently performs these operations successfully for users.

As a commercial operator, X-band services from Airbus DS provide military satcom capability to military and government customers using faster and more efficient procurement practices.

Customers: UK MOD, US DoD, French Armed Forces, The Netherlands, Slovenia and more. Operations particularly extend to US COCOMS and Special Forces personnel.

As a trusted industry partner, Airbus DS is the only supplier of X-band to ISAF and the largest supplier to NATO

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KEY FEATURES & BENEFITS OF X-BAND


Key Features of X-band

X-Band from Airbus DS

A. INTERFERENCE

RESILIENCE

Airbus DS’s X-band is resilient to interference due to coordinated operations between

all satellites and minimum slot separation enforcement.

Shapeable beams on Skynet minimise interference further in addition to the

smaller population use (reserved for mil/govs only) on X-band compared to

commercial bands.

B. RAIN RESILIENCE X-band has the best resilience to rain fade. The only frequency comparable is C-band

and this is a highly contended bandwidth used for broadcast to commercial users.

Combined with Skynet 5’s unique capabilities, X-band from Airbus DS is the best

option for military satcom operations in any environment.

C. TERMINAL SIZE

VS. DATA RATES

X-band is the best compromise for terminal size and data rates whilst maintaining

resilience to rainfade. Combined with Skynet 5’s powerful steerable antennas and

beaming forming networks, data rates of 10Mbps to a 45cm antenna is achievable

without interfering with adjacent satellites.

D. DATA RATES FOR

COTM/COTP

X-band is well suited for high data rates to “on the move” and “on the pause”

platforms. Combined with the unique capabilities of Skynet 5 as previously stated

and the assurance and uncontended bandwidth as standard, X-band from Airbus DS

has proven rates in excess of 14Mbps using DVB-S2 ACM SCPC links, with bespoke

coverage providing high gain spot beams tailored for Airborne ISR (UAV) missions.

E. REMOTE &

MARITIME

COVERAGE

Unlike commercial satellite coverages which are designed around areas of high

density of users, Airbus DS’s X-band footprints are designed to support users spread

across the planet. Therefore Skynet can support users in remote areas with little or no

infrastructure and in mid ocean away from land and shipping lanes. Skynet 5 coverage

is available across the land mass of Europe, Asia, Africa, and South America, and

across the Indian and North & South Atlantic Oceans. Anik G1 extends this

coverage across the whole of North America and the Pacific Ocean as far as Hawaii

and Easter Island.

X-band is reserved exclusively for military and government users and it provides all the benefits of commercial bands such as Ku, i.e. high speed data rates to smaller antennas, but with many additional benefits including resilience to rain fade and interference.

These benefits, combined with Airbus DS’s Skynet 5 advanced milsatcom capabilities, makes X-band from Airbus DS the ideal choice when loss of communications is not an option.

INFRASTRUCTURE INFR

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World Class InfrastructureWe deliver secure and resilient communication services around the globe

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ynet

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Government Communications Sites

Ground Stations

Customer Contact Centre


Skynet 5 - Providing Advanced Milsatcom Capabilities

The Skynet 5 spacecraft were built with features perfectly suited to guarantee communications in the demanding military environment. The benefits of these features for our customers include:

Skynet 5 System Features End User Benefit

High Power Narrow Transponders

• 160W transponders with bandwidths of 20MHz, 22MHz

and 40MHz

• Up to 8W/MHz (more than 5 time that available on

commercial grade systems)

• High performance for small terminals and terminals on edge of cover

• Stable Eb/No & BER enabling the use of higher order modulation (up to

64QAM proven) thus providing very high speed data delivery (155Mbps)

using only 40MHz of capacity

On Board Active Receive Antenna

The OBARA enables multiple uplink beams to be formed across the

global coverage region of each satellite. The associated beam forming

networks can create over 50 independent gain areas, creating many

multiple uplink beam patterns in the area of interest

Example performances

• Wide beam: typically covering whole continents and/or large

ocean areas, typical Edge of Cover G/T >-2.5dB/K

• Regional beam: typically covering large operational areas, typical

edge of cover G/T >-0.5dB/K

• Theatre beam: typically approx 600km across, typical edge of

cover G/T >4.5dB/K

• Increased uplink sensitivity where required

• Shaped beams around interference

• Higher data throughput need from any terminal size

• Bespoke customer uplink patterns to match customer requirements

• The theatre uplink beam can track a deployed user requirement to ensure

maximum data rates

• Theatre beam allows use of micro VSAT antennas 0.45m or greater

at >1Mbps

Steerable Spot Beams – placing downlink power where you need it.

• 4 steerable downlinks per Skynet 5, 16 across the fleet

• 50.5 dBW peak EIRP in each downlink transmit spot beam

• Allows higher data rates to smaller terminals

• Bespoke customer solutions tailored to customer requirements

Global X-band downlink and global X-band uplink on each satellite:

• 41 dBW peak EIRP in each global downlink beam

• Global uplink beam - Typical edge of cover G/T >-10.2dB/K

• Broadband communications for isolated users (for example mid ocean)

• Global uplink beam offers the customer the greatest satellite coverage but

balanced by a lower data rate

• Typically supports antennas 1.2m or greater at >1Mbps

Flexible Connectivity

• Highly flexible connectivity available between uplink

downlink beams

• Multi-beam switching capability

• Complex connectivity can be set up to allow connectivity between users

dispersed over several beams

• Operator can manage the power and bandwidth available to the end user

Military Grade System

• Military grade TT&C

• Protected against laser threats

• Protected against nuclear events & space weather

• NATO STANAG & MAC 1 Compliant System

• Control facilities & anchor sites secure to military specifications

• Beam shaping & power to counter interference & jamming

High confidence that the system will not be disrupted by:

• Hostile action

• Unintentional actions

• Environment

• Equipment of process failures

Commercial Service Provision

• 24/7 Customer & Technical Support

• Service Level Agreements with binding commitments

• Any issues are resolved very quickly & efficiently

• Guarantees 99.9% availability


Anik G1

Airbus Defence and Space has partnered with Telesat to deliver Anik G1 providing commercial X-band coverage across North and Latin America plus substantial coverage of the Pacific reaching out to Hawaii and Easter Island. Anik G1, launched in April 2013, holds a 3-transponder, global-beam X-band payload, operating from 107.3°W, giving coverage from 178°W to 35°W.

The payload is fully compliant to NATO interoperability standards giving seamless interoperability and portability with the Skynet fleet of X-band satellites, giving uncontended, near-global coverage to allow seamless maritime operations, integrated transit and deployment conops for our customers worldwide.

Skynet 4

Airbus Defence and Space still owns and operates 3 Skynet 4 satellites and 1 NATO 4B. The original design life for these satellites was 7 years but long after their planned life they are continuing to provide valuable capacity. Skynet 4C is now more than 20 years old and is still going strong. Skynet 4s have global and regional beams connected to wide bandwidth transponders. The Skynet 4 satellites are in inclined orbits and therefore require motorised tracking antennas.

Skynet 4C is currently inclined at over 10 degrees and is visible to the South Pole. Due to this distinctive capability, Skynet 4C is currently providing up to 5 hours of communications to the National Science Foundation a day.

Anik G1 and Skynet 4

COVERAGE CO

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AfricaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of Horn of Africa downlink beam

Example of whole of Africa uplink & high power downlink beams

The downlink spot beams can be freely positioned on the surface of the earth to best fit the customer need. It is also possible to provide dedicated beams with steering rights for the customer.

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AfricaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of uplink spot beams over Africa

Example of multi head Africa uplink beam

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The uplink beams can be adjusted and reshaped with enormous flexibility to provide maximum gain in the zones of interest for customers and maximising the rejection in other directions.

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Example of Australia & South East Asia uplink beam

Global downlink beam coverage map


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AsiaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Global uplink beam coverage map

Example of Indian Ocean downlink beam

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AsiaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples


Example of UK uplink beam

Example of Europe, Middle East, Indian Ocean & Far East uplink beam


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EuropeSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of UK downlink beam

Example of Europe to West Africa uplink beam

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EuropeSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples


Example of Iraq & Afghanistan uplink beam

Example of UK & Africa uplink and Middle East downlink beams


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Middle EastSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of Middle East uplink and UK downlink beams

Example of Middle East downlink beam

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Middle EastSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples


Example of US uplink beam

Example of Northern Atlantic downlink beam


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North AmericaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of US uplink & downlink beams

Example of North Atlantic uplink beam

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North AmericaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples


Example of downlink spot beam over South America

Example of high performance downlink spot beam well beyond the coast line of South America


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South AmerciaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Example of Central & South America uplink beam

Example of high performance downlink spot beam over South America

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South AmericaSkynet 5 Coverage - Illustrative Examples

Airbus DS offers you one-stop-shop

solutions for satellite services, worldwide.

Our expertise and capabilities

give you access to commercial

telecoms, government telecoms, satcom

systems and solutions and geospatial

information services.

Airbus DS is a world leader in providing

global fixed and mobile satellite

communication services to government,

military, NGO and emergency response

users and supports all communications

applications in land, aeronautical and

maritime environments.

Contacts

AIRBUS DSSatellite Communications Stage 1Gunnels Wood RoadStevenageHertfordshire SG1 2ASUnited Kingdom© Astrium Ltd 2014 - All rights reserved.Airbus Defence and Space, its logo and the product names are registered trademarks.Concept design by Airbus DS.Reference 10132sr-p February, 2014. Printed in UK by Signal Studio.

T: +44 (0)1438 282121

F: +44 (0)1438 282120

E: [email protected]

www.airbusdefenceandspace.com

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