WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio – Military space communications experts at Northrop Grumman Corp. are leading a U.S. Air Force research project to find new ways to quickly share information between land, sea and air forces to support rapid decision-making.
Officials at the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, announced Friday an $80.3 million contract with San Diego-based Northrop Grumman Mission Systems for the Defense Through Commercial Space Internet (DEUCSI) program.
This project seeks to seamlessly move and share data between various fixed and mobile operational locations using continuously available, high-bandwidth, line-of-sight communications.
The DEUCSI space-based capability will be called path-agnostic communication, as its users will be able to reliably communicate anywhere in the world without specifying which communication network nodes to use.
Related: Air Force Uses L3Harris to Help Develop Path-Agnostic Mobile Military Communications Over Space Internet
Northrop Grumman will seek to build the capability to communicate with Air Force and other military platforms over several different commercial space internet constellations using common user terminal hardware elements.
The vision of path-agnostic communications is made possible by the growing commercial space Internet, Air Force officials say. Several commercial companies plan to build space-based Internet constellations consisting of hundreds to thousands of satellites, each to provide global Internet services.
The DEUCSI program seeks to establish flexible, high-bandwidth, high-availability Air Force communications and data sharing capabilities using emerging commercial space Internet networks.
This approach is radically different from traditional military satellite communications programs, in which the government typically specifies and finances every aspect of the program, Air Force researchers say.
Related to: The Air Force will use the growing commercial satellite communications infrastructure for the tactical Internet
Instead, commercial space Internet use would focus government efforts on a few areas unique to Air Force applications.
The program has three stages. establish communications between multiple Air Force sites using commercial demonstration satellites and terminals; expand connectivity to multiple Air Force assets by spreading user terminals across multiple locations and vehicle types; and special experiments to address unique military requirements not otherwise met by commercial space Internet vendors.
Other DEUCSI contractors include Lockheed Martin Aeronautics in Fort Worth, Texas; Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp. in Boulder, Colo. and Raytheon Technologies Corp. Intelligence & Space Division in McKinney, Texas. L3Harris Technologies C5 Integrated Systems Division in Camden, N.J., won an $80.8 million DEUCSI contract last month.
For more information, contact Northrop Grumman Mission Systems online at www.northropgrumman.com or the Air Force Research Laboratory at www.afrl.af.mil.
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