CesiumAstro, a startup specializing in communications technology for satellites and aircraft, has won a U.S. Air Force contract to develop a phased array antenna for remote-controlled drones. The two-year, $3.6 million deal is a so-called tactical fund raise, where the government and private investors share the cost 50/50.

Austin, Texas-based CesiumAstro announced on June 16 that it will develop an active electronically guided array (AESA) that will fly aboard the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle. The terminal will connect the aircraft to commercial broadband Ka-band satellites in mid- and low-Earth orbits.

Shay Sabripour, founder and CEO of SpaceNews, said at a show scheduled for 2025, the Reaper, equipped with a low-profile AESA antenna, will fly and broadcast live video via a commercial satellite network. cesiumAstro .

Modern military drones use dish antennas to communicate with satellites in fixed orbit. “The Department of Defense needs enhanced connectivity with higher bandwidth for airborne vehicles,” Sabripour said. “By turning satellite communications drone platforms into the AESA terminal, they will be able to connect to MEO and LEO orbits using commercial and military Ka-band frequencies.”

CesiumAstro plans to use the mPower MEO SES satellite link for the demonstration. He said the Ka-band LEO services in development by Amazon’s Project Kuiper and Telesat are not expected to be available at the first demonstration, but will be tested when they become available. The terminal will also be able to connect drones to a future military group operated by the Space Forces Space Development Agency known as the LEO Transport Layer Communication Network.

A separate show with Airbus

Wayne Phelps, director of business development at CesiumAstro and a former U.S. Navy drone operator, said the AESA terminal developed for the Air Force is slightly smaller than what the company will display on an Airbus commercial aircraft in 2024. Airbus Ventures is an investor in CesiumAstro.

“The AESA terminal provides narrower beams that make it less likely to be detected by enemy forces,” Phelps said. The phased array will also provide the Air Force with high-bandwidth commercial broadband access. Military intelligence-gathering drones typically transmit large amounts of data.

“Our antenna will connect to MEO and LEO. Phelps, we can follow one satellite and switch to another without you losing connection.

General Atomics built a separate Ka-band overlay just behind the original enclosure used for the Ku-band terminals.

“It will just be plug and play,” Phelps said.

Sabripour said the company hopes the show will result in more orders. He estimates that the Air Force will need 500 to 2,000 new satellite terminals for drones over the next 10 years.

“They want to take advantage of new constellations appearing on the network,” he said. “We want to make this terminal a commercially viable product on the market by 2025,” Sabripour said. “We do all the certification and testing required by both the military and the FAA. Source