Kratos Demonstrates Fully Virtualized SATCOM Ground System for U.S.
Army Futures Command Over SES’s O3b MEO Constellation
Together the companies showcase technology capable of
supporting multi-orbit, multi-mission satellite ground
operations
SAN DIEGO and LUXEMBOURG, April 17, 2024 (GLOBE
NEWSWIRE) -- Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (Nasdaq:
KTOS), a technology company in the defense, national security and
global markets, and SES, a leader in global content connectivity
solutions, successfully executed a fully virtualized satellite
communications (SATCOM) ground system demonstration for the U.S.
Army’s Combat Capabilities Development Command, both announced
today.
Kratos and SES successfully showed a flexible
network architecture facilitating simultaneous communication
pathways for resilient SATCOM. This virtualized and containerized
architecture enables soldiers to position their radio frequency
(RF) hardware and software-defined hubs anywhere globally. In an
industry first, the demonstration showed seamless operation
supporting satellites in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) on a
“make-before-break” mode over SES’s O3b MEO satellite network.
Make-before-break is an essential capability for MEO and LEO
satellite constellations referring to the ability to transfer
communication sessions while the user transverses the coverage
areas of different satellites.
The demonstration employed a remote terminal in
Port St. Lucie, U.S., and a gateway in Lima, Peru, which connected
to a software-defined Kratos OpenSpace® vStar hub system
located more than 3,000 miles away in Virginia, U.S., all
orchestrated and conducted over SES’s O3b satellite network.
Military satellite communications (MILSATCOM)
networks increasingly will need to support multiple missions and
employ multi-orbit satellite networks while reacting far more
quickly than today’s hardware-based ground system. Kratos
OpenSpace® Platform is the industry’s only commercially available,
fully software-defined satellite ground system that provides the
necessary reliability and agility needed for these modern
operations. System efficiency was further enhanced by hosting the
container-based OpenSpace hub on public cloud resources provided by
SES.
Chris Badgett, Vice President of Technology for
Kratos Space, said, “As employed in this demonstration, OpenSpace
is the first to leverage containers to orchestrate the transfer of
communication sessions in a standards-based, open, COTS platform
environment. Using a containerized architecture for this
make-before-break handover is a significant advancement in SATCOM
technology and shows how Kratos is leading SATCOM ground
modernization by using commercial capabilities, including software
and generic x86 servers, to streamline and enhance hub, gateway and
remote terminals.”
Saba Wehbe, Senior Vice President, Service
Engineering and Delivery of SES, said, “SES's software
reconfigurable approach will future-proof ground systems and
simplify the interoperability of multi-constellation, multi-orbit,
multi-platform satellite services as well as standards-based
integration with terrestrial networks. Showcasing a resilient
software-defined network, characterized by the flexibility and
agility critical to the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) SATCOM
modernization efforts, reinforces the importance of these
features.”
Funding for this project was through the Network
Cross-Functional Team (N-CFT) established by the Army Futures
Command.
About Kratos OpenSpace
Kratos’ OpenSpace family of solutions enables the digital
transformation of satellite ground systems to become a more dynamic
and powerful part of the space network. The family consists of
three product lines: OpenSpace SpectralNet for converting satellite
RF signals to be used in digital environments; OpenSpace quantum
products, which are virtual versions of traditional hardware
components; and the OpenSpace Platform, the first commercially
available, fully orchestrated, software-defined ground system.
These three OpenSpace lines enable satellite operators and other
service providers to implement digital operations at their own pace
and in ways that meet their unique mission goals and business
models. For more information about the OpenSpace family visit
http://KratosDefense.com/OpenSpace.
About Kratos Defense & Security
Solutions
Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ: KTOS) is a
technology, products, system and software company addressing the
defense, national security, and commercial markets. Kratos makes
true internally funded research, development, capital and other
investments, to rapidly develop, produce and field solutions that
address our customers’ mission critical needs and requirements. At
Kratos, affordability is a technology, and we seek to utilize
proven, leading edge approaches and technology, not unproven
bleeding edge approaches or technology, with Kratos’ approach
designed to reduce cost, schedule and risk, enabling us to be first
to market with cost effective solutions. We believe that Kratos is
known as an innovative disruptive change agent in the industry, a
company that is an expert in designing products and systems up
front for successful rapid, large quantity, low cost future
manufacturing which is a value add competitive differentiator for
our large traditional prime system integrator partners and also to
our government and commercial customers. Kratos intends to pursue
program and contract opportunities as the prime or lead contractor
when we believe that our probability of win (PWin) is high and any
investment required by Kratos is within our capital resource
comfort level. We intend to partner and team with a large,
traditional system integrator when our assessment of PWin is
greater or required investment is beyond Kratos’ comfort level.
Kratos’ primary business areas include virtualized ground systems
for satellites and space vehicles including software for command
& control (C2) and telemetry, tracking and control (TT&C),
jet powered unmanned aerial drone systems, hypersonic vehicles and
rocket systems, propulsion systems for drones, missiles, loitering
munitions, supersonic systems, space craft and launch systems,
C5ISR and microwave electronic products for missile, radar, missile
defense, space, satellite, counter UAS, directed energy,
communication and other systems, and virtual & augmented
reality training systems for the warfighter. For more information,
visit www.KratosDefense.com.
About SES
SES has a bold vision to deliver amazing experiences everywhere on
earth by distributing the highest quality video content and
providing seamless data connectivity services around the world. As
a leader in global content connectivity solutions, SES owns and
operates the world’s only geosynchronous orbit and medium earth
orbit (GEO-MEO) constellation of satellites with the unique
combination of global coverage and high performance. By leveraging
its vast and intelligent, cloud-enabled network, SES delivers
high-quality connectivity solutions anywhere on land, at sea or in
the air, and is a trusted partner to the world’s leading
telecommunications companies, mobile network operators,
governments, connectivity and cloud service providers,
broadcasters, video platform operators and content owners. SES’s
video network carries over 6,400 channels, reaching 369 million
households, delivering managed media services for both linear and
non-linear content. The company is headquartered in Luxembourg and
listed on Paris and Luxembourg stock exchanges (Ticker: SESG).
Further information is available at: www.ses.com.
Notice Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
Certain statements in this press release may constitute
"forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking
statements are made on the basis of the current beliefs,
expectations and assumptions of the management of Kratos and are
subject to significant risks and uncertainty. Investors are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking
statements. All such forward-looking statements speak only as of
the date they are made, and Kratos undertakes no obligation to
update or revise these statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise. Although Kratos believes
that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements
are reasonable, these statements involve many risks and
uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from what may be expressed or implied in these forward-looking
statements. For a further discussion of risks and uncertainties
that could cause actual results to differ from those expressed in
these forward-looking statements, as well as risks relating to the
business of Kratos in general, see the risk disclosures in the
Annual Report on Form 10-K of Kratos for the year ended December
31, 2023, and in subsequent reports on Forms 10-Q and 8-K and other
filings made with the SEC by Kratos.
For further information, please
contact:
For Kratos: Yolanda White
858-812-7302 Direct
Investor Information:
877-934-4687
investor@kratosdefense.com
For SES: Suzanne Ong
External Communications SES
Tel. +352 710 725 500
suzanne.ong@ses.com
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