Longmont, CO (November 19, 2019) – Roccor, a Colorado-based disruptive military and aerospace component supplier in the rapidly growing small satellite market, announced that it has been contracted by Viasat, Inc. (NASDAQ: VSAT), a global communications company, to be a part of the world’s first-ever Link 16-capable Low Earth Orbit (LEO) spacecraft pilot program.
The XVI prototype spacecraft—outfitted with a cylindrical antenna system engineered by Roccor—is designed to extend the range of Link 16 networks—significantly enhancing situational awareness and mission capabilities for U.S. military personnel operating across the global battlespace.
According to Bruce Davis, Roccor’s director of Space Antenna and Deorbit Products, “The XVI project is truly an amazing feat of American defense ingenuity.” The widely proliferated Link 16 tactical communication network is the preferred choice of U.S. Department of Defense customers and a number of NATO allies for communication between ships, aircraft, maritime vessels and troops operating at the tactical edge. “By integrating Viasat’s market-leading Link 16 technologies and Roccor’s innovative deployable antenna, we will make the transmission of Link 16 signals via spacecraft possible,” Davis said.
The antenna, a two-meter-long winding device, will be extended and supported on-orbit by Roccor’s slit-tube composite boom, a technology that the company has successfully demonstrated in space on a number of occasions. “Our experience and agility enabled us to come up with a low-cost, reliable solution for Viasat,” Davis said. Roccor has also contracted with BluFlux, in Louisville, Colorado who specialize in RF and antenna technology for numerous markets, to design and test the RF aperture of the deployed antenna. Roccor will deliver the flight qualified system to Viasat in early 2020.
“Roccor is delivering some of the best SmallSat antennas on the market today,” said Mark Lake, Roccor’s chief technology officer. “We’re proud to be a part of Viasat’s efforts to enhance vitally important communications and situational awareness for U.S. and coalition military personnel.”
“Roccor’s antenna will be vital to the success of the XVI program,” said Ken Peterman, president, Government Systems, Viasat. “This Link-16 capable Low Earth Orbit spacecraft will address the Department of Defense’s urgent need for a fast-to-market, cost-effective, space-based Link 16 solution that will help our forces maintain the technological edge needed across today’s battlespace.”
According to Viasat, it will become “the first company to prototype and test space-based Link 16 capabilities compatible with fielded U.S. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps, and Special Operations Link 16-enabled platforms, including ground vehicles, aircraft, maritime vessels, and dismounted users.”
About Roccor: Roccor was founded in 2012 and is based in Longmont, Colorado. It is a fast-growing, vibrant, high technology supplier into the aerospace and terrestrial military markets. Roccor’s novel designs address cost and performance limitations to revolutionize spaceflight and military operations. The company has contracts with NASA, the U.S. military, and commercial space companies all around the world and already has several deployable systems on orbit as of late 2018 and with numerous additional systems delivered and planned for launch in early- to mid-2019. Visit Roccor at www.roccor.com.
About Viasat: Viasat is a global communications company that believes everyone and everything in the world can be connected. For more than 30 years, Viasat has helped shape how consumers, businesses, governments and militaries around the world communicate. Today, the Company is developing the ultimate global communications network to power high-quality, secure, affordable, fast connections to impact people’s lives anywhere they are—on the ground, in the air or at sea. To learn more about Viasat, visit: www.viasat.com, go to Viasat’s Corporate Blog, or follow the Company on social media at: Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter or YouTube.
