space technologies for uavs - ap-swiss · 2015-03-20 · space technologies for uavs lausanne, 13...

VIASAT PROPRIETARY

Space Technologies for UAVs Lausanne, 13 Feb. 2013 Ferdinando Tiezzi

VIASAT PROPRIETARY 2

»  Founded in 1985 by 3 engineers »  > 800M$ revenues in 2012 »  > 2500 FTE »  Steady growth in sales and orders »  Growth driven by Innovation

»  In 2011 we launched ViaSat-1 the highest capacity satellite

»  Provide broadband internet access competitive with terrestrial networks

»  > 1M subscribers and growing 0

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ViaSat,1 ViaSat-Partners Echostar-XVII Spaceway,3 HNS-Partners

ViaSat Overview

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2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Fiscal Year (ending March 31)Government Systems Commercial NetworksSatellite Services


ViaSat Locations

Offices »  Atlanta, Georgia »  Arlington, Virginia »  Baltimore, Maryland »  Boston, Massachusetts »  Carlsbad, California »  Cleveland, Ohio »  Denver, Colorado »  Germantown, Maryland »  Gilbert, Arizona »  Tampa, Florida

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - »  Beijing, China »  Canberra, Australia »  Lausanne, Switzerland (JAST SA) »  Wareham, UK »  Sydney, Australia

Service »  Australia – Sydney »  Brazil – Sao Paolo »  China – Beijing »  India – New Delhi »  Nigeria – Lagos »  Russia – Moscow »  UK - Wareham »  USA – California & Georgia


ViaSat Business

SurfBeam 2 Home Terminal


Government Communications


» DoD fixed & mobile products & networks

»  “Blue Force Tracking”- New BFT-2 supplier

» DoD application of commercial VSAT

» DoD application of mobile broadband

» UHF satcom networks » EBEM Ka-band

modems


Mobile Commercial Communications

»  Unsurpassed global broadband coverage

»  True broadband experience to small antennas ›  Forward link rates

up to 90 Mbps ›  Return link rates

up to 1024 kbps ›  Apertures as small as 30 cm

»  Web browsing, e-mail, VPN, voice, media

»  Cost effective commercial solutions for Government application

»  Market Leader in Commercial Ka-band Gateways



Ka-band Broadband

»  Over 1M Terminals Installed »  Exede: Fastest Growing

Ka-Band Network Worldwide

»  Connectivity speed and cost competitive with terrestrial networks (DSL)

»  End 2013, deployment of fastest In-Flight Internet access on JetBlue, Continental and United US regional flights



Technology Development


»  Development of custom parts for Spacecrafts (e.g. Iridium Next)

»  Innovative concepts of spaceborne antennas (ESA, Thales)

»  Electronically steerable antennas for SatCom

»  Custom ASIC and MMIC components

»  Advanced Satellite Communication Networks & Technology (e.g. Ground Based Beam Forming)


Why Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

»  Since the beginning of aeronautics, aerial imagery and reconnaissance is one of the main application of aircrafts ›  Refueling and pilots limit the range and duration of missions ›  Possible flight restrictions due to human pilot (Fukushima)

»  With the advent of the space era, satellites have brought the continuous remote sensing of the earth ›  High altitude limits the resolution ›  Orbital path limits the time availability over a specific area.

»  UAVs can close some of these gaps: ›  Can fly at low altitudes with high

resolution instruments ›  Can fly in hazardous areas ›  Can fly continuously for days

(even years: DARPA Vulture project) ›  Low exploitation cost


UAVs - A fast growing market

»  The number of UAVs in the market and their application is growing very fast

»  Their application in international military interventions has become a necessity (Afghanistan, Pakistan, Lybia, Mali, etc.) USA are opening their airspace to UAVs in 2013-2015 ›  “There may be up to 30,000 drones flying in US skies by 2020, which is a huge

number. Basically, one in every town,” Trevor Timm from the Electronic Frontier Foundation

»  Canada is following up and Europe could also open the airspace in 2016


UAV applications

»  Military ›  ISR (Intelligence, Surveillance,

Reconnaissance) ›  Strike operations

»  Government, civil protection ›  Territory remote sensing, documentation ›  Disaster areas monitoring ›  Borders, Coastal areas, Critical sites

surveillance »  Industry

›  Imagery ›  Surveillance of critical infrastructures

(pipelines, power lines,…)

»  Space missions ›  Unmanned Space Shuttle


UAVs use Space Technologies

»  SATellite COMmunications allow to control UAV remotely and to get data even from thousands of Km

»  SATellite NAVigation systems (GNSS) allow geo-referencing of UAV data and fully autonomous flight

»  Combination of data from Earth Observation Satellites with data from UAV generates value added information ›  Multispectral imagery ›  Evolution of targets over time ›  Combination of HiRes imagery of specific region with larger areas

monitored by satellite


»  Large amount of data (HiRes pictures, HD videos) need to be transferred in real time from UAVs

»  High data rates are achievable with ground data links, but the range is limited to tenths of Kilometers

»  A flexible exploitation system requires a satellite communication system with ›  worldwide coverage ›  large data transfer capacity ›  24/7 connectivity affordable

UAVs Communication needs


ViaSat Broadband Mobile SatCom

»  ViaSat has deployed the only Ku-band global network for broadband SatCom

»  Can be operated with an antenna terminal of only 30 cm of diameter that can be installed on very small aircrafts and UAVs

»  Allows inflight connectivity up to 1 Mbps on Ku-band global coverage

»  Augmented by regional Ka-band coverage with 10x faster connectivity


ViaSat Broadband Mobile SatCom

»  2 to 4x faster than L-band ! allows real-time upload of HD video streaming

»  Flat rate unlimited connectivity provide a low Opex exploitation

»  Cost competitive wrt. L-band time-based rates after only few missions (few hours)

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ViaSat Ku Band 1024 kbps

ViaSat Ku Band Per Mission

GSA L Band 256 kbps8 flight hours

6 “ “4 “ “


Ongoing Demonstration: SASISA – Small Aircraft Service for Instant Situational Awareness

»  Objective: Set up an airborne remote sensing service able to deploy within few hours all over Europe and provide aerial intelligence and support to ground intervention teams

»  Demonstration: Real-time delivery and combination of geo-referenced data from airborne sensing and satellites for the management of natural disasters (flood, forest fire) and emergencies

»  Framework: ESA ARTES-21 »  Main consortium partners: K&A (UK), JAST/ViaSat (CH), DEA

(UK), Joanneum Research (A), Atmosphere (D), HiTec (Lu) »  System components:

›  Small Aircraft (can be applicable also to UAV) ›  Airborne Mobile SatCom, GNSS receiver, Line-of-Sight Comm ›  Airborne sensors: visible, near-IR, thermal ›  Real-time Image processing (treatment, compression,…)


SASISA System Architecture


Conclusions and Future Needs

»  Develop/Deploy Global SatCom network that allow very high data rates at low-cost ›  Continuous communications for remote UAV control and data

downlink

»  New Air Traffic Management systems with high precision GNSS system and SatCom component ›  Management of increasing number of flying objects ›  Increase security by continuous monitoring worldwide ›  Allowing autonomous flight procedure

»  Develop technologies allowing to integrate broadband SatCom on very small and low-power platforms

space technologies for uavs - ap-swiss · 2015-03-20 · space technologies for uavs lausanne, 13...

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