Application of Commercial Technology to Management of an Operational Military Satellite System

Abstract

This paper reports on the application of commercial technology to the ground control and management facilities of an operational military satellite system: the commercial space communications sector is currently enjoying the benefits of contemporary enterprise management solutions. These solutions have matured and been widely adopted by the sector bringing operational and strategic benefits which are increasingly considered as the norm. These commercial space solutions operate throughout the standard telecommunications business and network management layers by seamlessly interleaving and sharing information between core generic applications. By contrast, the defence sector’s ability to benefit from these technologies is constrained by the need to manage (or selectively deny) access to information in a robust and rigorous fashion. This represents a demand upon (a cultural and technical conflict with the ethos of) the 'open access' architectures enjoyed by the commercial sector. So, we will report a real-world operational example of methods by which this conflict is largely resolved by referring to our experience of the development, implementation and commissioning of an operational Military Satellite System. Specifically we report on the approach adopted by us to the challenge of retaining the efficiencies of a classic e-TOM (Enhanced Telecoms Operating Map) system within the constraints imposed by a multi-security level environment. We report on lessons learned throughout the concept, design, implementation and commissioning phases and describe how the benefits will continue throughout the operational phase. Finally, we will reflect upon the way such challenges might be tackled in the future within a private-public collaborative framework.