Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch: Industry Supports Gov’t Missions Through Investments in Satcom Capabilities

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch

Rebecca Cowen-Hirsch of Inmarsat Government wrote in a SatMagazine article that the commercial satellite communications industry supports government customers’ missions and understand their requirements by investing in programs and capabilities that seek to improve the mobility, redundancy, flexibility, throughput, protection and resilience of satcom systems.

Cowen-Hirsch, senior vice president for government strategy and policy at Inmarsat Government, cited a statement of Gen. John Hyten, commander of U.S. Strategic Command, before a Senate panel and how it reflects the need to leverage commercial capabilities to support the U.S. government’s goal of building an “integrated SATCOM architecture of the future.”

She mentioned Inmarsat’s continued investments in satellite systems and payloads to deliver Ka- and L-band services to government and military clients. Those include the planned launch of three Global Xpress satellites – GX7, 8 and 9 – in 2023 and two new payloads aboard Space Norway satellites, which are set for launch in 2022.

Cowen-Hirsch said the payloads will provide mobile wideband services in the Arctic region. “Importantly these payloads will also provide mil-Ka capability through service beams and high-capacity steerable beams, complementing military satellite resources,” she added.

She said the company also plans to launch the Inmarsat-6 communications satellite fleet in 2020. “The Inmarsat-6 fleet is a unique dual band payload covering L- and Ka-band services, and will support a new generation of capabilities for the 5G era, from advanced global safety services and low-cost mobile services to high-definition streaming,” she noted.