As the Department of Defense (DoD) prepares for an increasingly contested and data-driven battlespace, timely and resilient satellite communications (SATCOM) are essential. Yet despite the exponential growth of commercial innovation, particularly in Low Earth Orbit (LEO), legacy procurement models are too slow in delivering the advanced SATCOM capabilities that warfighters need.
It’s time to chart a new path.
The shortcomings of status quo procurement
Traditional commercial SATCOM acquisition for the DoD relies heavily on Operations and Maintenance (O&M) funding for connectivity services that are fundamentally strategic infrastructure. This approach limits flexibility and precludes the DoD from leveraging procurement funds to secure long-term, high-assurance capacity in the most economical manner as well. It also creates a fragmented model in which services are bought piecemeal, often by the end user, through transactional means that do not scale effectively in times of crisis.
During my tenure as Commander of the Advanced Concepts Division in the U.S. Air Force—where I oversaw the DoD’s satellite networking architecture—initiatives like the SATCOM Pathfinders recognized these inefficiencies and explored more effective models. However, nearly a decade later, the need remains urgent for a scalable and efficient approach that better reflects the DoD’s operational realities and leverages commercial innovation in next-generation LEO capabilities.
Lessons from the terrestrial domain
In the terrestrial telecom world, Indefeasible Rights of Use (IRUs) provide long-term access to fiber infrastructure, offering a model of “owning” fiber capacity without actually owning the fiber circuit. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) already leverages this model to acquire dark fiber capacity to U.S. bases with procurement dollars.
The DoD is currently using procurement dollars to purchase dedicated satellites to provide capacity using a government-owned, contractor-operated (GoCo) model like MILNET. They can do so because the satellites are considered tangible assets owned by the government.
However, those assets require continual reinvestment every 3-5 years to maintain DoD access to the capacity. Extending the IRU model into satellite capacity offers a simpler and more effective way to ensure SATCOM capabilities.
An Alternative – the Capacity Pool model
Telesat Government Solutions (TGS) proposes a fundamentally better approach: the Capacity Pool model.
This model combines the benefits of capacity ownership with the flexibility of commercial innovation. It offers the DoD a tangible and dedicated pool of global LEO capacity sized to their exact operational needs, with the DoD maintaining complete control over how and where that capacity is deployed. This addresses a long-standing DoD issue of terminal and capacity synchronization, because the DoD can scale their capacity pool precisely timed with user terminal deployment plans.
It is SATCOM infrastructure-as-a-service, providing reliable, scalable, and secure solutions that are aligned with the DoD’s operational and strategic planning cycles. It’s analogous to the GoCo model currently being used by the DoD’s MILNET, but with many advantages.
Key advantages include:
- Longer service life: Telesat Lightspeed LEO satellites have a service life of 10 years, over twice the life of most LEO satellites, which require reinvestment 2-3 times over that period.
- Operational flexibility: A global capacity pool can be allocated by the DoD among various Services and missions and can be instantly reconfigured to any mission or Combatant Command. Surge capability doesn’t require moving satellites; it simply involves reassigning capacity or adding to the global pool. This aligns perfectly with the stated objective of the Commercial Augmentation Space Reserve (CASR) initiative, which explores how commercial SATCOM providers can augment military capabilities in times of crisis.
- Terminal agnosticism: Multiple terminal options enable services across domains (land, air, sea, space), supporting ongoing DoD investments. Rather than being locked into a single satellite system, the DoD can take advantage of innovative, multi-orbit/multi-band terminals that are rapidly entering the market.
- Improved resilience: The advanced Telesat Lightspeed architecture is built with redundancy and cybersecurity that approaches that of military satellites, with interference mitigation baked in.
Aligning with evolving acquisition strategy
The Space Force and other defense stakeholders increasingly advocate an “exploit what we have, buy what we need, and only build what we must” philosophy. The Capacity Pool model embodies this ethos, offering the benefits of a purpose-built DoD capability without the burden of owning and operating an entire constellation requiring constant reinvestment.
It also opens the door to a renewed Pathfinder initiative. Just as IRUs in terrestrial fiber gave DISA long-term capacity without owning physical infrastructure, the same legal and budgetary framework could be applied to LEO SATCOM. The Telesat Lightspeed network is MEF 3.0 compliant, ensuring smooth integration into terrestrial fiber networks, making the IRU procurement model even more suitable.
A well-crafted procurement vehicle, aligned with congressional authorization, could enable the DoD to secure guaranteed, long-term access to SATCOM capacity with procurement dollars, rather than relying solely on spot market purchasing with O&M funds.
A future-ready SATCOM posture
The design of Telesat Lightspeed anticipates the operational imperatives of tomorrow. With its software-defined network, private landing station options, and built-in cybersecurity protections, it provides the DoD with a pathway to resilient, secure SATCOM without being locked into proprietary architectures or high refresh cycles.
This isn’t just a more efficient way to buy bandwidth in space. The Capacity Pool model is a strategic enabler that mirrors how the DoD operates its own MILSATCOM – centralized capacity procurement, Services procurement of terminals, and operational command and control of provisioning. All that, plus the additional benefits of commercial acquisition timelines, no unused capacity while waiting for terminal deployments, and flexible global service that can surge when and where the DoD needs it.
DoD decision-makers face a narrowing window of opportunity to prepare for great-power competition. It’s time to modernize SATCOM procurement models to match the urgency of emerging threats. The Capacity Pool model offers a ready-made solution, tailored to the mission and scalable for the future.
