Satellite Communication Systems
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BlueHalo has been awarded a contract for the Satellite Communication Augmentation Resource (SCAR) program by the Space Rapid Capabilities Office (SpRCO), a direct reporting unit of the US Space Force.
The $1.4 billion contract will include full lifecycle development from initial design through full rate production. The SCAR program will deliver premier satellite operations capability—maximizing automation, flexibility, and commonality while enabling continuous modernization.
BlueHalo’s advanced Radio Frequency (RF) solutions will serve as the key enabling technology for the SCAR program. The foundation of the program is BlueHalo’s proprietary Multi-band Software Defined Antenna (MSDA) technology. BlueHalo’s MSDA is a phased array technology that simplifies mission operations through agile and re-configurable beamforming tiles. The company’s Broad Area Deployable Ground terminal enabling Resilient communication (BADGER) provides a multi-band and deployable ground communications system built upon the core MSDA technology. The system is extensible across multiple mission areas, enabling communications between multiple spatial, spectral, and temporal diverse targets.
“Between the rapid proliferation of new space satellite constellations at a relentless rate and the criticality of the US maintaining its strategic advantage as a Nation in space in the face of advancing adversaries, new technologies had to be brought to bear,” said Jonathan Moneymaker, BlueHalo’s Chief Executive Officer. “I could not be prouder of BlueHalo’s talented engineers, scientists, and support staff for leading the development of our BADGER offering and the partnership we have forged with the Space Rapid Capabilities Office to bring the SCAR program to life. This program will redefine our national capabilities for decades to come.”
BlueHalo will partner with Kratos Defense & Security Solutions on the SCAR effort. Kratos will provide its OpenSpace Platform, a software-defined satellite ground system. OpenSpace enables scalable deployments within an elastic, cloud-agnostic, fully virtualized environment built upon widely-accepted industry standards. With the OpenSpace Platform, customers can instantiate new services in minutes instead of the weeks or months commonly required with traditional hardware-based ground systems. The Kratos award for this effort is valued at approximately $160 million, including a combination of software, services and other system elements.
“We could not have a better strategic partner to work with than BlueHalo on this advanced and strategic program,” commented Phil Carrai, President of Kratos’ Space, Training and Cybersecurity Division. “OpenSpace is designed to support dynamic operations needed for multi-mission operations and quickly adapts to changing conditions. Together with BlueHalo, our technologies are architected to interoperate and our combined expertise in space network development will deliver a system that is agile, configurable, resilient and at the cutting edge of the DoD’s goals for digital transformation.”
“We’re proud of this award, which provides monumental growth at our New Mexico campus and establishes BlueHalo as a top-tier system integrator. Manufacturing of the BADGER systems will occur in our new state-of-the-art campus in Albuquerque, NM,” added Dan Gillings, BlueHalo Sector President. “This program creates 60 new engineering and manufacturing jobs and presents a unique opportunity for the customer, BlueHalo, and key suppliers to be co-located within the Albuquerque area.”
