Intelsat
General
and
L-3
Communication
Systems-West
Successfully
Demonstrate
Automatic
Beam
Switching
for
Unmanned
Aerial
System
on
Intelsat
EpicNG
March
7,
2016
Intelsat
General
Corporation
and
L-3
Communication
Systems-West
(L-3
CS-West)
announced
the
successful
demonstration
of
new
automatic
beam
switching
technology
that
enables
Unmanned
Airborne
Systems
(UAS)
fitted
with
L-3
CS-West
satellite
communications
packages
to
operate
on
Intelsat’s
high-throughput
satellite
(HTS)
platform,
Intelsat
Epic.
This
software
upgrade
was
funded
and
developed
through
a
partnership
between
Intelsat
General
and
L-3
CS-West
to
ensure
that
the
existing
unmanned
aircraft
systems
(UAS)
platforms
can
take
advantage
of
the
3x–4x
throughput
improvement
that
Intelsat
Epic
enables.
This
demonstration
was
part
of
Intelsat’s
ongoing
ecosystem
work
validating
the
compatibility
of
existing
hardware
with
Intelsat’s
Epic
high-throughput
satellites.
This
over-the-satellite
demonstration
was
conducted
on
Intelsat’s
Horizons-1
satellite
using
three
separate
bandwidth
segments
and
a
navigation
simulator
representing
a
UAS
flying
through
three
separate
high-throughput
spot
beams
on a
single
Intelsat
Epic-class
satellite.
Using
an
L-3
CS-West
hub
and
terminal
modems
for
the
end-to-end
test,
engineers
measured
the
performance
of
full-motion
video
and
IP
data
between
the
UAS
and
the
hub
controller
as
the
system
automatically
switched
both
frequency
and
polarization
while
the
aircraft
flew
through
the
three
separate
beams.
The
new
Intelsat
Epic
satellites
are
designed
to
increase
UAS
data
rate
performance
by
200
to
300
percent
via
their
high-throughput
spot
beams
and
enable
broadband
performance
to
antennas
with
apertures
smaller
than
30
cm.
This
demonstration
validated
that
the
UAS
could
automatically
switch
between
these
beams
without
user
intervention,
thereby
simplifying
operations
while
fully
leveraging
this
increased
throughput.
“Through
our
collaboration
with
Intelsat,
both
airborne
and
ground
users
will
be
able
to
upgrade
the
software
on
existing
L-3
wideband
modems
to
provide
automatic
beam
switching
capabilities
for
service
on
high-throughput
satellites
like
Intelsat’s
Epic,”
said
Andy
Ivers,
president
of
L-3
Communication
Systems-West.
“These
results
mark
an
important
milestone
in
providing
our
customers
the
ability
to
modernize
their
existing
assets
within
today’s
fiscally
constrained
defense
budget
environment.”
“This
demonstration
proves
that
modems
using
beam-switching
technology
will
support
UAS
operations
at
very
high
data
rates
on
high-throughput
satellites,”
said
Skot
Butler,
vice
president,
Satellite
Networks
&
Space
Services
at
Intelsat
General.
“This
capability
is
an
important
step
in
the
evolution
of
satellite
communications
for
these
critical
platforms.
Intelsat’s
Epic
also
provides
inherent
protection
from
signal
jamming
and
greater
throughput
for
full-motion
video
and
other
bandwidth-hungry
payloads.”
Following
this
successful
demonstration,
Intelsat
General
and
L-3
CS-West
plan
to
conduct
further
tests
with
user
platforms
employing
the
recently
launched
Intelsat
Epic
IS-29
satellite.
Intelsat
Epic
is a
high
performance,
next
generation
satellite
platform
that
delivers
global
high-throughput
technology
via
an
innovative
approach
to
satellite
and
network
architecture
utilizing
C-,
Ku-
and
Ka-bands,
wide
beams,
spot
beams,
and
frequency
reuse
technology
to
provide
a
host
of
customer-centric
benefits.
The
Intelsat
Epic
series
digital
payload
will
be
instrumental
in
allowing
flexible
and
efficient
use
of
spectrum,
resulting
in a
dramatic
increase
in
the
amount
of
throughput
delivered
on
these
satellites.
Intelsat
Epic is
based
on
open
architecture
and
engineered
for
backwards
compatibility,
allowing
broadband,
media,
mobility
and
government
organizations
to
realize
the
cost-efficiency
of
using
existing
hardware.
At
the
same
time,
increased
control
means
these
organizations
can
build
on
their
success
by
offering
their
end-users
customized,
differentiated
solutions
—
even
defining
such
service
characteristics
as
speed,
hardware
and
network
topology.
