PARIS, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- EADS' Astrium Services is launching its military and government advanced Ka-band test-bed in cooperation with Avanti Communications.
The company said the technology test-bed comprises a dedicated secure laboratory facility equipped with RF, modem and encryption and routing equipment that will enable government and military customers to work in close collaboration with Astrium Services' engineers in testing and refining future military Ka-band system requirements.
System tests using the Hylas 1 satellite will cover military use of Ka-band, including tactical and comms-on-the-move terminals in field locations.
"Our goal with the technology test-bed and the capacity lease on Hylas 1 is to test and validate potential future service opportunities to give our existing and future customers an edge over the competition," Astrium Services Chief Executive Officer Eric Beranger said.
"Military Ka-band capability will play a very strong role in future Con Ops, particularly for very high data rate services to and from disadvantaged terminals in theater.
"One area we are looking at is multiple unmanned aerial systems streaming real time surveillance data to support military or governmental operations across areas of military or political interest. Current satellite systems simply do not have the available bandwidth to support such operations."
Astrium Services' subsidiary Paradigm owns six military-grade satellites with a seventh in construction and a network of dedicated anchor sites, which are operated from highly secure facilities in the United Kingdom.
