The Technodrome Forums - Skynet Is Online!

Last Updated: Friday, 9 March 2007, 18:37 GMT
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UK military awaits Skynet launch
By Jonathan Amos
Science reporter, BBC News

The Skynet system brings an increase in power and bandwidth

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The British military is set to take one of its most significant steps into the digital age with the launch of the first Skynet 5 satellite.

The spacecraft will deliver secure, high-bandwidth communications for UK and "friendly" forces across the globe.

It is part of a multi-billion-pound project that will allow the Army, Royal Navy and RAF to pass much more data, faster between command centres.

The Skynet 5A platform lifts off from Kourou, French Guiana, on Saturday.

It will fly atop an Ariane 5-ECA launcher that is scheduled to leave Earth at 1925 local time (2225 GMT).

A second and third spacecraft will be added at a later date to complete the constellation.

Every piece of satellite bandwidth is valuable and the military is always hungry for more
Bill Sweetman, Jane's Information Group
"It's a groundbreaking military satellite system," explained Patrick Wood, who has led the development of the spacecraft for manufacturer EADS Astrium.

"It's going to provide five times the amount of capacity that the previous system provided, and allow the military to do things they just haven't been able to do in the past," he told BBC News.

Click here to see how the system will be deployed

'Information warfare'

Skynet 5 matches the capability of the best modern satellite platforms - on which the world depends for its telephone, TV, and internet traffic - but has been specially prepared for military use.

Four steerable antennas give it the ability to focus bandwidth on to particular locations where it is most needed - where British forces are engaged in operations.

Final preparation has been undertaken in Kourou

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Its technologies have also been designed to resist any interference - attempts to disable or take control of the spacecraft - and any efforts to eavesdrop on sensitive communications.

An advanced receive antenna allows the spacecraft to selectively listen to signals and filter out attempts to "jam" it.

"As far as we know, this is the most sophisticated technology of its type - certainly in Europe," said Mr Wood. "It allows you to produce peaks of reception across the surface of the Earth, and to change that antenna pattern in extremely rapid time."

Skynet 5 replaces Skynet 4. The new spacecraft system is bigger and much more powerful. The high traffic rates are in both directions.

New Scot terminals for Skynet on RN ship (Astrium)
Naval vessels have been re-equipped to use Skynet 5
Analysts talk increasingly of the military's "network enabled capability" - the idea that information and fast access to it are paramount.

"Modern warfare is all about information," said Bill Sweetman, the technology and aerospace editor for Jane's Information Group. "Every piece of satellite bandwidth is valuable and the military is always hungry for more.

"The practice is to offload mundane traffic on to commercial satellites and then to use a complementary, secure propriety system for the traffic that has to be protected.

"Take for example the capability of unmanned air vehicles. These generate a lot of imagery and that has to be passed over a secure communications link. Modern warfare involves passing around a lot of data, and that puts a premium on satellite capacity."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/6434773.stm

Kind of ironic that it's the UK that's going to screw us.:ohwell: