Capacity and regulatory study on the potential use of satellite on the move terminals at X-band

The Army is evaluating the potential use of military X-band, in support of satellite on- the-move (SOTM) missions, to satisfy much needed war-fighting bandwidth. Over the next 5 years, the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) constellation will be placed in orbit. It will consist of a geosynchronous constellation of at least five X and Ka capable satellites. The WGS X- band payload is significantly more powerful than the existing Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) constellation and will also allow cross- banding between X and Ka on orbit. Initial US Army CERDEC analysis of WGS and experiments on a similar commercial X- band payload (XTAR) has shown the feasibility of operating small (18 inch and smaller apertures) mobile terminals at X- band with reasonable spectral efficiency. This paper expands upon the work performed to date at the CERDEC to look closely at the system impacts of operating small mobile terminals at X-band. It develops a methodology to analyze the overall performance impacts and terminal design goals. Finally, it proposes a new standard for these X-band mobile terminals.