Viasat has been awarded a contract by the U.S. Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) on behalf of the U.S. Space Force’s (USSF) Space Systems Command (SSC) for Proliferated Low Earth Orbit (PLEO) Satellite-Based Services (SBS). The contract, valued at $900 million over 10 years, was awarded to Inmarsat Government, which is now part of Viasat.
The increasing reliance on space-based capabilities for national security has highlighted the need for resilient constellations that include satellites in geostationary (GEO) and non-geostationary orbits (NGSO). Proliferated LEO (pLEO) constellations are part of the Department of Defense’s strategy to enhance satellite communications (SATCOM), remote sensing, and other capabilities by diversifying orbits.
Viasat plans to leverage small satellite technology, reduced costs, and increased launch service competition to provide persistent, global coverage with reduced transmission latency through pLEO constellations. The company will offer fully-managed pLEO satellite-based services and capabilities, including space relay services, supplemented by GEO and NGSO satellites, to support all domains – space, air, land, maritime, and cyber.
Viasat aims to provide a reliable, resilient low latency global pLEO offering that can flexibly meet the needs of combatant commands, defense agencies, federal government organizations, and international coalition partners. The company will deliver a comprehensive managed end-to-end SATCOM solution using a multi-band, multi-orbit constellation of satellites.
In addition, Viasat’s new software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) will enable automated priority routing across mixed networks, offering a primary, alternate, contingency, and emergency (PACE) solution that can adapt to customers’ needs.
Susan Miller, President of Viasat Government, expressed the company’s commitment to delivering resilient, robust, and secure SATCOM capabilities to service members worldwide. Viasat has a history of providing integrated SATCOM solutions and service offerings to government customers and has worked with trusted satellite owners/operators to provide cost-effective bandwidth.
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