Satellite communications for security support at G8 summit (Forwarded)

ESA News
http://www.esa.int

6 June 2007

Satellite communications for security support at G8 summit

An immediate response to urgent communications needs can be offered by
satellite systems in many situations. A good example is the ESA project that
will be supporting the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief by
enabling satellite telecommunications services during the G8 summit in
Heiligendamm, Germany.

The provision of a ground station and associated satellite capacity will
enable the German Federal Agency for Technical Relief (Technisches Hilfswerk
THW) to connect their mobile command post in Heiligendamm to their
headquarters in Bonn.

Telephone and data connectivity will be provided by a mobile satellite
communications system whose core elements have been developed under an ESA
ARTES 3 (Advanced Research in Telecommunications Systems Multimedia
Programme) project by ND SatCom GmbH and which is built upon their SkyWAN
product. SkyWAN is a satellite terminal system using small antennas, which
can establish a wide-area network infrastructure for mobile or transportable
applications.

The innovative concept from ND SatCom which is demonstrated with this
project enables agencies like first responders, fire fighters, or crisis
managers to immediately use the services of a shared 'always-on' satellite
network whenever they require, thus optimising satellite capacity
expenditures and service availability.

Shared crisis and contribution network

With support from ESA, ND SatCom -- a supplier of satellite-based
telecommunication solutions located in Friedrichshafen (Germany) -- has
designed a shared satellite system capable of immediate broadband
communication in case of emergencies and otherwise able to be used for
information gathering.

For the THW command post at Heiligendamm, connectivity is being provided via
the HellasSat2 satellite, which has been chosen as it is part of ESA
Telecom's technical assets.

The system deployed for the G8 summit has been tailored to the needs of THW
and is using about 3 MHz of bandwidth on the satellite. The bandwidth is
shared between two communication channels with information rates of about 2
Mbps and 0.8 Mbps.

As part of the project, ND SatCom has also implemented a lightweight,
car-top transportable antenna and associated control and pointing software,
called SkyRAY light.

For major events such as the G8 summit, where additional and reliable
telecommunication facilities are required, it is no longer necessary to set
up complex and expensive conventional infrastructure for one-time
utilisation. The use of a satellite-based network does away with the need to
connect to traditional terrestrial telecommunications infrastructure or
radio link systems.

Command centres and mobile units are equipped with compact mobile and fixed
satellite terminals which support telephony and data exchange independent of
other networks.

This first application of ND SatCom's network at the G8 Summit is based on a
co-operative undertaking by ESA, ND SatCom, THW, the German Aerospace Centre
(Deutsches Zentrum f Luft- und Raumfahrt DLR), and the supplier of
fire-fighting and rescue technologies GIMAEX-Schmitz.

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