Near Space Fills Communications Gap

Signal, Nov 2005 by Lawlor, Maryann

Col. Rhodes reiterates the importance of this capability to current operations. For example, convoys driving through Iraq may be 18 miles long. Unless transmitters are located in the middle of the convoy, the warfighters in the front vehicles cannot communicate with those in the back. "If we can give these guys an opportunity to maintain their situational awareness and command and control and a convoy can then communicate back to the headquarters that might be a couple hundred miles away, I think everybody will benefit," he says.

Although Combat SkySat was a success, members of the battlelab already are looking to the future. The colonel points out that while using a balloon as a platform has several advantages, there is still room for improvement. Persistence is one problem the team is still trying to solve, for instance. Free-floating balloons are only as persistent as winds allow. When a vehicle is developed that can maintain stationkeeping in near space, it will be a significant breakthrough, he states.

The potential for commercial uses for near-space communications will likely drive continued improvements. The technique already is being used commercially in Texas and Oklahoma to provide information about gas and oil sites, and Space Data plans call for the applications to expand to the telecommunications industry. For example, Irwin says the company is exploring a concept it calls "cell tower in the sky." The firm's long-term business plan is to provide cell phone coverage to every square inch of the continental United States. While large companies may not be interested in installing cell towers in rural areas that service only a few customers, Space Data sees potential in the market.

And ability to service a handful of users has military applications as well, Col. Rhodes points out. Teams of special operations forces need the ability to communicate, and the near-space approach is one option, he states.

Other possible applications for the capability include homeland defense or disaster relief. Although the battlelab's primary mission is to determine whether commercial products can fill a military requirement, Col. Lane says his team has discussed how near-space could assist in the aftermath of tragedies such as Hurricane Katrina. "The communication infrastructure is just not there for everyone going into the area. We're looking at the military application, but as far as homeland security and other types of applications, this payload could be launched and could provide communications to hundreds of first responders with a very small logistical footprint. So we're working with those other agencies outside the U.S. Defense Department because we see the capability for the military application, but we also see huge application for border patrol and scenarios like the events following Hurricane Katrina," he states.

Maj. Steven G. Staats, USAF, deputy director, initiative demonstrations, Air Force Space Battlelab, agrees that the applications for this capability are far-reaching. While satellite communications enable connectivity at the strategic level, the capability demonstrated during Combat SkySat will be useful at the tactical level. "When you look at the overall communications need, whether it's the Defense Department or the Department of Homeland Security, there's an integrated approach, and you have to identify the effect you need and then identify the system to provide it. This will be one of those systems in your quiver that you could choose to meet particular needs," the major says.