Satellites & Space Systems

Terminal selection starts from the link, not the brochure: the constellation or teleport the program rides, the operating band and the mobility class — fixed, on-the-pause or on-the-move — set the antenna aperture, RF chain and modem family before any hardware is shortlisted. Modem and waveform compatibility is then confirmed against the network being joined, so what is quoted is what locks to the satellite.

Fixed, mobile (comms-on-the-move and comms-on-the-pause) and manpack classes are all in scope, with the band — L, S, C, X, Ku or Ka — matched to the service the mission actually rides.

The ground segment is assembled and proven before it leaves for the site: modem racks cabled and configured, RF distribution and the network-management system brought up together, and the signal chain exercised end to end against the terminal it will serve. Because it has already carried traffic on the bench, field crews spend the install pointing the antenna and turning it up rather than diagnosing why a modem and an NMS meeting for the first time on site won't talk.

For programs integrating commercial SATCOM into a broader communications architecture, we design the handoff to your terrestrial network — teleport-to-network integration, encryption endpoints and failover to terrestrial links — as part of the same engagement, rather than treating the satellite link as an isolated procurement.

Export classification is confirmed on satellite and ground-segment hardware before it ships and documented with the order, so a controlled item never moves without its classification established first.

Controlled and non-controlled lines are handled separately through the build, and TAA country-of-origin is confirmed on the non-controlled hardware. Final export licensing responsibility remains with the program per your compliance office.

Space-qualified components — radiation-tolerant parts, flight-heritage hardware — carry pedigree requirements that a standard component quote doesn't touch: lot acceptance testing, radiation test reports, and traceability back to a qualified manufacturing line.

We source these through channels that provide that documentation as part of the delivery, not as a follow-up request after a program review asks for it, so the paper trail is in hand when the milestone review needs it.