The 22nd Space Operations Squadron is testing a new $35 million transportable ground antenna, which will be used for future contingency operations support at Air Force Satellite Control Network ground stations around the world. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)
WASHINGTON — A sustainment plan for the Space Force’s global network of 19 parabolic antennas and ground systems used for controlling satellites is in the final stages of an update but still has hurdles to clear before it’s finalized, a Space Force official told Breaking Defense.
The sustainment strategy, known as the program’s Life Cycle Sustainment Plan (LCSP), was highlighted in a Government Accountability Office report [PDF] published Monday that knocked the Space Force for not having updated the plan in 2022 when it was obligated to, five years since the 2017 plan. GAO said the new LCSP for the Space Force’s Satellite Control Network (SCN) is needed to reflect developments since 2017, like the fact that the Space Force exists, the emergence of new programs and the status of current antennas — currently overworked to a concerning degree as space gets more and more crowded.
The new LCSP “is near completion,” according to Shawn Sawyer, director of data transport for product support for Space Systems Command’s Battle Management Command, Control, & Communications. “It is in final review and will be sent to SSC/S4 (Office of the Director for Logistics and Product Support) to begin coordination once complete,” he said, referring by SSC to Space Systems Command.
After that, “it will be submitted for final signature to SSC’s Deputy [Program Executive Officer] for Battle Management Command, Control & Communications (BMC3),” he added.
A spokesperson for SSC further told Breaking Defense that the final content of the plan is expected to be completed this week but did not provide a definitive timeline for coordination and a final signature. The spokesperson also clarified that though the sign-off will be provided by the deputy program executive officer for BMC3, the control network will not be a part of the newly debuted Department of the Air Force Battle Network.
RELATED: In new JADC2 overhaul, Air Force pushes all-encompassing ‘DAF Battle Network’
The Satellite Control Network, which stretches across seven locations as far west as Hawaii and as far east as Guam, performs control functions consisting of tracking (determining where a satellite is located), telemetry (collecting information about its health and status) and command (transmitting signals to control subsystems and maneuvering satellites if necessary). Those operations, called TT&C, result in an average of about 450 contacts with satellites per day, according to GAO.
That number of contacts amounts to a utilization rate of the antennas exceeding the industry benchmark of 70 percent in recent years, GAO found, underscoring the need to provide additional capacity. Particularly since each antenna can only make contact with one satellite at the time, Space Force operators use a matrix to prioritize antenna use, where many contacts end up rescheduled or canceled. Between January 2021 and June 2022, for example, GAO described 15,780 of those schedule changes, which are known as “conflict deletes”.
Persistent demand can also force maintenance to be postponed, according to the GAO report, which noted that launch support operations that make up a significant portion of SCN capacity are only expected to rise. Within the launches themselves are a growing number of deployable satellites, though the report noted that many newer satellites require less contact time with an antenna.
The Space Force is looking to lessen the burden on the antennas by reducing the amount of contact time needed, adding capacity from supplemental antennas and modernizing the ones they’ve got. Through the Satellite Communications Augmentation Resource (SCAR) initiative, the service plans to field as many as 12 phased array antennas by the early 2030s that can simultaneously contact between 18 to 20 satellites, with the first prototype expected in 2025. Officials are also exploring opportunities to leverage other existing government antennas owned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
The SCN itself is also getting a hardware refresh. Currently, the Space Force is in the process of replacing modems, tracking receivers and high-power amplifiers through the Modularized Remote Tracking Station project, GAO said — changes that could cut down on electronic components by as much as 80 percent. According to Space Force officials interviewed by GAO, the modernization will help increase capacity by reducing planned and unplanned maintenance time by between 20 to 25 percent.
“We are making great progress with our Modularized Transitional Remote Tracking Station (RTS) which will be SCN’s first Software Defined Radio solution, meaning that we are actively transitioning away from analog communications systems to [a] digital based system,” Sawyer said. “This effort helps expand capacity for future users while also mitigating obsolescence.”
Sawyer also said SSC and other partners like the Naval Research Laboratory are working with the Space Development Agency to ensure that a commercial antenna can be used to contact eight Tranche 0 satellites, which supported SDA’s recent launch. By enabling greater access to commercial antennas, “we are able to help the space warfighting community substantially increase their communications capacity and ultimately close existing data gaps,” he said.
