Thule Air Base Photos - Late last month, SES Space and Defense announced that it had been selected by the US Department of Defense (DoD) to provide communications services to Thule Air Force Base. While this may not seem like an interesting or particularly noteworthy contract - providing satellite services to military bases - this particular foundation comes with its own set of challenges that make satellite communications both critical and extremely difficult.
That's because Tule Air Force Base is not your average US military base. It is the northernmost military base in the United States - strategically located between the United States and the two His biggest competitor. And the extreme northern location—and the harsh conditions that come with it—can destroy stations and satellite signals.
Thule Air Base Photos
To learn more about the challenges Thule Air Force Base poses to satellite providers, we recently sat down with Philip Harlow, Vice President of Procurement and Monitoring at SES Space and Defense. During the discussion, we asked Philip why satellites are so important to Thule Air Force Base, why they are so difficult to deliver, and why C-band, GEO satellites are best suited to meet the needs of the base.
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SES Space and Defense recently announced that it has been awarded a $14.5 million contract to provide satellite services to Thule Air Force Base. How is Tule Air Force Base different and unique?
Philip Harlow: Thule Air Base is located in a very harsh environment. For this particular background, the importance of communication is dire, and the ability to convey [those communications] requires a great deal of effort.
Geographically, Tule Air Force Base is America's northernmost base. It is also further east than most of the continental United States. There are very few satellites serving this geographic area. And its location makes getting a signal from that part of Greenland to its final destination safe and at the same time incredibly difficult.
In fact, for most satellite providers, it is almost impossible to get a signal to Thule without going through a commercial gateway.
Far North Base Connects Air Force To Its Satellites > U.s. Department Of Defense > Defense Department News
Fortunately, SES has great experience working in harsh environments around the world, including Afghanistan, parts of Africa, the Arctic and the Antarctic. These are all places where the environment is very different and has its own challenges.
We have been serving Thule for over 20 years. During that time, we have demonstrated the ability to install and maintain the infrastructure necessary to provide the services that users rely on in a reliable and trustworthy manner.
How does northern location and extreme weather affect satellite service delivered to air bases?
Philip Harlow: The cold and dry environment in the Far North accelerates wear and tear and weakens physical hardware. This has a significant impact on the "health" of materials and equipment, which consists of stations and stations.
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For this reason, we sheltered the antenna in a large radome. It's always cool. Metal is brittle. Liquid freeze fast. Cables and connectors freeze, harden and break - making them difficult to move. All of these factors combine to make the area around Thule Air Force Base unsuitable for satellite stations and hardware.
"...in the case of Thule Air Force Base, the military actually uses commercial satellite services to carry out traffic. There is a lot of mission-critical and other information that the military relies on commercial satellites to deliver." - Philip Harlow
What's worse is that the winter there is very long. This makes it difficult to repair and replace things because it has to be done in a very short window during the summer. If maintenance has to be done in the middle of winter, it is a difficult job to do quickly, so there must be someone in place with good knowledge and training in equipment and maintenance.
And this only affects the hardware of the satellite. From the point of view of the signal, the high-low angle also affects the quality of the signal. The low elevation angle, combined with the snow surrounding the base, contributes to combustion. This is a phenomenon where the reflected signal from water and snow creates an environment where the signal interferes effectively.
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Philip Harlow: When we talk about commercial satellite services in the military, we're often talking about non-operational service use cases - checking email, accessing the Internet, etc. But in the case of Tule Air Force Base, the military actually uses commercial satellite services to carry operational traffic. There is much critical sensor data and other information that the military relies on commercial satellites to deliver.
While Thule is certainly remote and remote, it provides an important piece of the puzzle for our military awareness and national defense strategy. The base is located in an incredibly strategic position between the United States and some of its biggest rivals. own. This means that communication is absolutely essential in this place and other remote places like it.
"The cold and dry environment in the far north will accelerate the wear and tear of surface materials. The body weakens. This affects the health of the objects and equipment that make up the station and the station." - Philip Harlow
However, in many other remote locations, there are fiber connections in addition to satellite connections. This fiber is usually a single cable, so the satellite is important for redundancy and mission assurance, but the fiber is there for communication. But that is not the case at Thule Air Base.
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As the military deploys more sensors and other equipment at these remote locations, the amount of data that needs to be returned in real time is enormous. And Thule only has the satellite link to send that data back to those who want to analyze it.
As a result, we recently doubled the satellite communications we provide to Thule Air Force Base. . This allows us not only to support them in operations, but also to provide morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) services for those deployed in this difficult and remote location.
The satellite service provided by SES Space and Defense to Thule Air Base is a C-band service. What does it mean? Why is this important to this region? How is it different from the satellite providers that are typically offered to the military?
Philip Harlow: C-band has a longer wavelength than Ku-band and other commercial satellite signals. This means that it is not negatively affected by environmental and atmospheric factors.
Team Visiting Thule Air Base
C-band satellite signals can operate at low angles, such as those required at Thule Air Base, with minimal scintillation. C-band is also less affected by atmospheric attenuation or "disappearing rain". This happens when the signal is absorbed or nullified by atmospheric rain, snow or ice - all of which are very common throughout the Thule Air Base.
C-band has proven its ability to provide very reliable service - even at low angles. In fact, we used C-band satellite signals to transmit communications in Afghanistan, where we often experience dust storms. In these cases, C-band is not affected much.
"As the military uses more sensors and other equipment in these remote locations, the amount of data that needs to be sent back in real time is huge. And Thule only has the satellite link to send that data to the people who need to analyze it, send it." - Philip Harlow
Also, Ku-band beams tend to be smaller than C-band. C-band hemispheric beams can cover almost the entire hemisphere, allowing the signal to reach the Thule air base and its final destination in a single point. Ku-band often does not cover remote areas such as parts of Greenland due to the smaller size of the log and limited use.
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Why did the DoD choose GEO Satellite Services for this space as we bring Low Earth Orbit (LEO) constellation visibility online? Aren't LEO constellations capable of providing lower latency than GEO?
Philip Harlow: There are several reasons, but first and foremost has to do with availability. LEO fleets are not yet fully deployed and do not provide the 24/7 global coverage required for strategically important locations such as Thule Air Force Base.
In addition to reach, LEO satellites also have limited access. The tiny spot beams from LEO satellites cannot pick up signals from Thule anywhere that matters. To receive signals to Thule Air Base, LEO satellites must connect to ground stations elsewhere within the beam. Because of the small size of the LEO beam, the ground station will still be in a harsh, harsh environment - in places like Newfoundland and Labrador.
"... Hemisphere C beams can cover almost the entire hemisphere, making it easier for the signal to reach Thule Air Base to its final destination in a single hop." - Philip Harlow
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Finally, LEO satellites must be tracked across the sky. in
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