Inmarsat’s Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch Talks Govt-Industry Relationship, Inmarsat 6 Satellite Fleet

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Inmarsat, has said she believes the relationship between the government and commercial sector “will continue to mature” under President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Cowen-Hirsch told Space News staff writer Caleb Henry in an interview published Tuesday that the company sees a “greater geographically dispersed demand” for commercial satellite communications services within the government as well as interest in high-throughput satellites.

“From airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance to data backhaul, Blue Force Tracking or video distribution, we see consistently growing demand,” she added.

She noted that the company plans to equip its Inmarsat 6 fleet of satellites with Ka– and L-band frequencies in an effort to provide U.S. government clients with “additional coverage and redundancy.”

Cowen-Hirsch also cited the need to incorporate Pathfinder 2 and Pathfinder 3 satcom services into the Defense Department‘s Wideband Analysis of Alternatives in order to help the government explore “a range of alternatives that incorporate the best of breed of commercial as a foundation of their satellite communications architecture.”