Today’s battlefield requires connectivity that is dynamic, secure and resilient. As global threats intensify and warfighter’s needs grow more complex, uninterrupted connectivity has become a mission-critical asset for defense operations. Military and government organizations are calling for multi-orbit solutions to prevent being vulnerable to jamming, spoofing or infrastructure attacks on single-orbit systems. They are looking to commercial satellite communications (SATCOM) providers to offer layered resilience and global reach through multi-orbit solutions—linking low-Earth orbit (LEO), medium earth orbit (MEO) and geostationary orbit (GEO) into a single service.
This shift to multi-orbit architectures, instead of relying on one orbit, provides the redundancy and adaptability needed to maintain connectivity in contested or degraded environments. Major procurement efforts like the U.S. Space Force’s Marine Enterprise Commercial Satellite Services (MECS2) seven-year contract to ensure the delivery of global, multi-band, multi-orbit SATCOM for the Marine Corps are now underway. The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Primary, Alternate, Contingency and Emergency (PACE) communications plan also increasingly incorporates multi-orbit SATCOM solutions as part of its layered approach to ensure resilient and uninterrupted communications. The MECS2 contract and PACE plan are examples of the growing demand for commercial technologies that can keep pace with military needs for consistent connectivity.
Turning Big Ideas into Reality
Military SATCOM systems must be able to perform across a wide range of unpredictable and hostile scenarios. This includes mobile operations, and operating despite adversary attempts to degrade or deny service. They’re designed to be rugged and agile, enabling seamless connectivity across land, sea, air and space domains.
Connecting multiple orbits, like LEO and GEO for example, is not without its complications. These advanced systems introduce new challenges—such as differences in latency, satellite movement and network protocols—and must be rigorously tested to ensure they are ready to meet operational requirements. One way to ensure performance is through simulation and testing that replicates these real-world challenges. Utilizing satellite channel emulators to test scenarios in advance can provide critical insight and give commanders the assurance that their communications systems will hold, no matter the situation. From switching between orbits to recovering from jamming attempts, systems must be validated in environments that mimic and anticipate potential in-orbit chaos.
The lab environment is ideal for running exhaustive and repeatable testing and a key tool in a satcom lab is a satellite channel emulator. This device allows testers to bring satellite links into the lab, with physically accurate satellite link channel conditions, matching multi-orbit network conditions. With hardware-in-the-loop emulators, like the RLS-2100 from Square Peg Communications, the actual terminals and gateways used in mission critical multi-orbit networks can be linked in the lab. The operational network can be verified ahead of time, with real hardware.
Given the complexity of multi-orbit testing, and in particular testing of handovers between satellites in different orbits, choosing the right test architecture and tools is critical. A test bed can be significantly simplified if all elements are synchronized and can take advantage of real-time antenna pointing information from the modem under test. Emulation of antenna control systems using protocols such as OpenAMIP can facilitate this by ensuring that modems are synchronized in time and position to the scenario being simulated, and using antenna pointing information from the modems to dynamically reconfigure the channel emulator.
SATCOM systems are only as strong as their weakest link—and without validation, that link may fail when it matters most.
Orbit-Ready Testing to Enable Rapid SATCOM Transformation
Technology is advancing at an astronomical pace. Commercial SATCOM innovation is accelerating faster than traditional procurement timelines and in-lab testing can help bridge the gap. In-lab testing prior to deployment ensures that newly integrated systems function as expected and that upgrades don’t introduce unanticipated failures. It also provides a path to future-proofing networks by identifying potential issues before they arise once operational in space.
No matter what theatre of operations, communications are essential for mission success. The ability to simulate and test complex scenarios can help ensure the military are ready to face and overcome any threat to network availability and performance.
A tool such as Square Peg’s RLS-2100 that provides integrated orbit and route modeling, realistic channel emulation, and flexible interfacing with other test bed elements can help militaries build readiness, resilience and redundancy into mission critical satellite communications solutions.
Michael Gertsman Bio
Michael Gertsman is president and co-founder of Square Peg Communications, where he is responsible for overseeing business strategy and setting strategic operations. Square Peg is a market leader in developing and implementing test solutions for complex satellite communications networks, designing advanced satcom technology infrastructure and providing systems engineering expertise.
The company has been collaborating for 30 years with space agencies, satellite operators, satcom equipment manufacturers, integrators, service providers and others to help them turn their bold ideas into reality.
Michael holds a master’s degree in Systems and Computer Engineering from Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada.
