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Decades-old military ground stations responsible for tracking and controlling satellites are expected to reach maximum capacity as more spacecraft are launched into orbit. The US military, particularly the Space Force, is facing a shortage of capacity at its satellite control centers. Despite the availability of commercial ground stations, these services have not been widely utilized by the military.

Commercial options have the potential to alleviate the capacity crunch for the Space Force’s satellite control centers; however, industry executives reveal that acceptance of these services has been challenging. Executives discussed this issue at the MilSat Symposium in Mountain View, California.

The aging Satellite Control Network (SCN) is the current ground infrastructure used by the Space Force to track launches and send commands to spacecraft in orbit. The Government Accountability Office highlighted the challenge faced by the Space Force in April, stating that despite upgrades and attempts to utilize commercial antennas, a shortage of capacity remains. The SCN, established in 1959, is made up of 19 parabolic antennas located across various sites worldwide.

According to John Williams, CEO of Atlas Space Operations, the military has sporadically explored commercial ground station services over the years but has not fully embraced them. Williams suggests that the government needs to differentiate between functions that are inherently military and those that can be procured as services from industry.

Atlas Space Operations offers a network management platform that allows unused capacity from one ground station to be shared with other customers in the network. Williams proposes that leveraging existing solutions would be a faster path to expanding capacity compared to the lengthy process of procuring additional hardware.

Glenn Barney, director of U.S. government programs at Kongsberg Satellite Services, highlights the differing perspectives between the government and commercial industry when it comes to deploying capacity. The Space Force tends to prioritize usage to free up capacity, while the commercial industry can acquire additional antennas as needed. To address these challenges in the long term, the Space Force intends to invest in a significant procurement of new antennas to replace some of the SCN parabolic satellite dishes.

The Space Force launched the Commercial Augmentation Services (CAS) program in 2016 to bring more commercial capacity to SCN tracking stations. However, the initiative did not gain traction due to bureaucratic hurdles. Instead of considering how commercial services could meet their needs, the focus shifted to industry development of products that were not offered to commercial customers.

Williams highlights that some individuals in the military procurement bureaucracy prefer to purchase custom systems instead of services due to a lack of familiarity. Outdated requirements have also complicated the procurement process, with the Space Force attempting to replace technologies that no longer exist. Williams emphasizes the importance of industry informing the government about available technologies to ensure accurate and holistic requirements.

The industry faces the challenge of helping the government understand the possibilities offered by commercial services. The traditional product-buying mindset can make it difficult for projects like CAS to be accepted by the military.

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