Teleport Program

Mission— Teleport Program

The ability of the current ground infrastructure to be responsively resilient is limited: much of the baseband and satellite equipment must be manually reconfigured and, if shifting from one SATCOM system to another is required, manually-performed reconnections are required. This is inconsistent with the advent of Enterprise Satellite Communications Management and Control (ESC-MC) which is under development and will provide for automated resource allocation and reallocation and improved situational awareness of the status of the DoD SATCOM Enterprise. DISA will develop ground management and control capability that will provide the ability for automated coordination by ESC-MC of the ground infrastructure as well as the various space systems supporting U.S. Warfighters. Gateway Optimization and Resiliency (GOaR) Study. DoD CIO commissioned the GOaR Study, which was finalized and accepted by the DoD CIO in July 2022, to evaluate the overall resiliency of the entire DoD Satellite Communication (SATCOM) Enterprise. The purpose of the GOaR Study was to determine whether there is sufficient resiliency across the ground infrastructure of the DoD SATCOM Enterprise. The GOaR Study concluded that the DoD must improve the quality of technology across the DoDIN ground entry points (GEPs). The DoD must increase the capacity of each GEP. Should one or more GEP become unavailable, the remainder of the ground infrastructure must be able to continue to support U.S. Warfighting forces engaged in operational missions. Additionally, the GEPs must provide redundancy across multiple frequency bands and sites. DISA is prioritizing Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) to develop a ground infrastructure management and control system. Specifically, RDT&E investments will provide mechanisms to integrate existing Teleport management capabilities so that machine-to-machine exchanges with the broad Enterprise Satellite Management and Control (ESC-MC) capability can begin to occur. This integration will contribute to improved situational awareness at the ground infrastructure and the SATCOM Enterprise levels by providing real-time data to feed a common operating picture for better understanding of the SATCOM environment, enhanced network orchestration for better management and coordination of DoD’s SATCOM resources, and automated resource allocation for rapid allocation (hours vice weeks or months) of SATCOM resources to meet rapidly changing Warfighting needs. Finally, RDT&E will determine how to seamlessly integrate Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) satellite services through the SATCOM ground infrastructure/Joint SATCOM Teleports into the existing DoD SATCOM Enterprise. This will provide access to the terrestrial portions of the DoD Information Network (DoDIN) and DISN services by enabling ground integration of LEO/MEO services.

Mission— Resilient Ground Infrastructure

The Department of Defense (DoD) relies heavily on satellite communications (SATCOM) and DISA is committed to improving the resilience of the ground infrastructure for this critical capability. A key component of this effort is strategic investment in Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDT&E) to develop innovative solutions that enhance the resiliency, and redundancy of the DoD SATCOM ground infrastructure. RDT&E funding is required for developing the ground infrastructure management and control capability with and its interface to Enterprise Satellite Management and Control (ESC-MC), Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) integration, and Low Earth Orbit (LEO) integration. To realize the promise of the ESC-MC Reference Architecture, DISA will invest in developing the ground management and control capability for the Joint SATCOM Teleports and interfacing it with the Enterprise Satellite Management and Control (ESC-MC) capability. This will provide a common operating picture, improve network orchestration, and enable automated SATCOM resource allocation. The integration of MEO satellite services offers the potential for increased bandwidth, reduced latency, and improved coverage. To capitalize on these advantages, RDT&E funding will be allocated to research and determine the best methods for integration of commercial MEO services into the DoD SATCOM Enterprise through the Joint SATCOM Teleports. Similar to MEO, the integration of LEO satellite services offers unique advantages, including low latency and with some systems, coverage over the Arctic and Antarctic that is at best marginal when using satellites in geosynchrous orbit. To leverage these capabilities, RDT&E funding will be used to research and determine the optimal methods for facilitating the integration of commercial LEO services into the DoD SATCOM Enterprise.

Accomplishments & Planned Programs (1)