Do scientists not watch films?

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UK military awaits Skynet launch

By Jonathan Amos

Science reporter, BBC News

 

The Skynet system brings an increase in power and bandwidth

 

 

Enlarge Image

 

The British military is set to take one of its most significant steps into the digital age with the launch of the first Skynet 5 satellite.

 

The spacecraft will deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for UK and "friendly" forces across the globe.

 

It is part of a multi-billion-pound project that will allow the Army, Royal Navy and RAF to pass much more data, faster between command centres.

 

The Skynet 5A platform lifts off from Kourou, French Guiana, on Saturday.

 

It will fly atop an Ariane 5-ECA launcher that is scheduled to leave Earth at 1925 local time (2225 GMT).

 

A second and third spacecraft will be added at a later date to complete the constellation.

 

Every piece of satellite bandwidth is valuable and the military is always hungry for more

 

Bill Sweetman, Jane's Information Group

"It's a groundbreaking military satellite system," explained Patrick Wood, who has led the development of the spacecraft for manufacturer EADS Astrium.

 

"It's going to provide five times the capacity that the previous system provided, and allow the military to do things they just haven't been able to do in the past," he told BBC News.

 

 

Click here to see how the system will be deployed

'Information warfare'

 

Skynet 5 matches the capability of the best modern satellite platforms - on which the world depends for much of its telephone, TV, and internet traffic - but has been specially prepared for military use.

 

Four steerable antennas give it the ability to focus bandwidth on to particular locations where it is most needed - where British forces are engaged in operations.

 

 

Final preparation has been undertaken in Kourou

 

 

Enlarge Image

 

Its technologies have also been designed to resist any interference - attempts to disable or take control of the spacecraft - and any efforts to eavesdrop on sensitive communications.

 

An advanced receive antenna allows the spacecraft to selectively listen to signals and filter out attempts to "jam" it.

 

"As far as we know, this is the most sophisticated technology of its type - certainly in Europe," said Mr Wood. "It allows you to produce peaks of reception across the surface of the Earth, and to change that antenna pattern in extremely rapid time."

 

Skynet 5 replaces Skynet 4. The new spacecraft system is bigger and much more powerful. The high traffic rates are in both directions.

 

 

Naval vessels have been re-equipped to use Skynet 5

Analysts talk increasingly of the military's "network enabled capability" - the idea that information and fast access to it are paramount.

 

"Modern warfare is all about information," said Bill Sweetman, the technology and aerospace editor for Jane's Information Group. "Every piece of satellite bandwidth is valuable and the military is always hungry for more.

 

"The practice is to offload mundane traffic on to commercial satellites and then to use a complementary, secure proprietary system for the traffic that has to be protected.

 

"Take for example the capability of unmanned air vehicles. These generate a lot of imagery and that has to be passed over a secure communications link. Modern warfare involves passing around a lot of data, and that puts a premium on satellite capacity."

 

'Physical assurance'

 

The whole Skynet 5 constellation has been funded through the largest Private Finance Initiative (PFI) signed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD). The MoD does not own the hardware; it merely buys the services run over it.

 

Initially agreed in 2003, the PFI saw Paradigm Secure Communications, which is a subsidiary of EADS Astrium, take over and operate the UK's military satellite comms network.

 

 

UK forces have seen a steady upgrade in all their comms systems

As part of this £2.6bn deal, Paradigm agreed to loft new and more advanced spacecraft, and overhaul the ground systems needed to support them. This has included replacing and updating control centres, and major antennas and terminals on military ships, land vehicles and planes.

 

Paradigm gets an annual fee for providing this service. It can also earn money by selling excess bandwidth - expected to be about 50% on each spacecraft - to Nato and other friendly countries.

 

The cost to the British taxpayer of the PFI jumped by several hundred million pounds in 2005, principally because of a decision to go for the "physical assurance" of building a spare spacecraft rather than a straightforward insurance policy that would pay out in the event of a launch failure or breakdown in orbit.

 

Even so, the MoD says, the Paradigm contract should save many millions of pounds over the 18 years of the deal, compared with a more conventional procurement arrangement.

 

After launch, it will take about a week to put Skynet 5A in its final geostationary orbit.

 

The 5B platform will be launched towards the end of this year, with 5C due in orbit in 2008.

 

Skynet 5A has a co-passenger for Saturday's flight: the Indian TV satellite Insat 4B.

 

THE SKYNET 5 MILITARY SATELLITE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM

 

The satellites are 'hardened' against interference. A special receive antenna (1) can resist attempts at jamming

Each spacecraft has four steerable antennas (2) that can concentrate bandwidth on to particular regions

The system gives global coverage (3), providing five times the capacity afforded by the previous system

Improved technologies, including a solar 'sail' (4), lengthen the platforms' operational lives to at least 15 years

Each spacecraft (5) is a 2x2x2m box and weighs just under 5 tonnes; the solar wings once unfurled measure 34m tip to tip

 

BBC News

 

This is never going to end well. I hope Sarah Connor is on standby.

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