The webinar hosted by Global Satellite Operators Association was focused on the potential for joint development, synergy and positive mutual effect of satellite communications and Earth remote sensing services. The webinar speakers were:

• Emma Hatton, Back Head of Geospatial Intelligence, Catapult, webinar presenter;
• Wladimir Bocquet, Director of Regulatory Strategy and Space Policy, SPIRE;
• Dr. Minda Suchan, Vice President of Geointelligence, MDA Space;
• Özdemir Gümüşay, CTO, Plan-S Satellite and Space Technologies;
• Sarah Casenove, Head of Portfolio and Transformation of Space Digital, Airbus.

Prerequisites for synergy

Today, both industries — Earth remote sensing (RS) and satellite communications (satcom) — are undergoing significant transformation and active implementation of innovations. The exponential increase in the number of satellites launched over the past few years is primarily due to the deployment of multi-satellite communications constellations. Satellite telecommunications services are being rolled out by multinational high-tech giants, such as Apple, which is funding the upgrade of the Globalstar constellation and has already added an Emergency SOS feature when out of cellular range. At the same time, according to various forecasts, the Earth observation market will grow over the next ten years from $5 to $8 billion. There is an increase in demand for information products and services that combine data from multiple sources. This industry is being heavily invested in. However, the remote sensing market is still dominated by law enforcement agencies. The industry is looking for various opportunities to dramatically boost the RS market, and one of them could be the synergy between remote sensing and satellite communications. This path is inevitable, as the volume of required remote sensing data is growing, and there are no options for data transmission other than via satellite channels.

The wide spreading digital transformation across many industries is driving demand for satellite-based IoT communications services, particularly in remote areas. Experts also note the demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-based analytics of Earth observation data.

Within a single satellite system, within a single platform

RS data is now transmitted from orbit using geostationary satellites. This is done, for example, by Airbus. Adding low-orbit communications constellations to the existing system will allow to benefit from their advantages: global coverage and low latency. For instance, a system developed for firefighters is already being tested. It allows users to send a request to a remote sensing satellite via the OneWeb low-orbit network and receive information, again via OneWeb. This means that it becomes possible to create a system that provides a user with data anywhere, anytime, and of any volume.

In the near future, the next logical step will be the creation of a global constellation with remote sensing sensors and data repeaters located on a single satellite platform.

The paramount parameter is data protection

Connecting satellites within the same constellation that are located in different orbits by inter-satellite communication links will eliminate the need to transmit data via third-party networks. This undoubtedly will be interesting for customers who consider security as one of their top priorities. Moreover, this approach will allow for the use of data protection developments achieved by both remote sensing experts and satcom experts. But data protection is not an abstract task. It cannot be resolved spontaneously, but is built into the overall system, and sometimes conflicts with other network parameters. For example, artificial intelligence is increasingly being used today for data orchestration, traffic management, and bandwidth allocation in multi-satellite systems. In the future, the role of AI will only increase, and AI-powered multi-satellite constellation orchestration systems will dominate the market. Meanwhile, there is a problem with using AI to manage deeply encrypted traffic: it is extremely difficult for artificial intelligence to prioritise encrypted traffic without compromising its security. That is, the higher the level of protection, the more difficult the task of using AI to manage the network.

Spectrum, regulation and standardisation

Access to spectrum remains the key problem. The cellular industry is currently encroaching on the radio frequency spectrum allocated for satellite services, constantly increasing its pressure. For both satcom and remote sensing, access to the X-band is crucial for the development of promising applications and the implementation of innovations. The spectrum needs protection in both satellite communications and remote sensing segments. It might be worth considering the prospects of using a common spectrum for both services – in theory, this could bring quite a few benefits to both industries. For example, the opportunity to jointly protect their rights to the spectrum at international forums, primarily on the sidelines of World Radiocommunication Conferences. However, it should be admitted that the idea of ​​joint use of the spectrum by remote sensing and satcom is still technically unfeasible.

To create a full-fledged multifunctional space system, it is necessary to upgrade the regulatory system, which currently does not allow the migration of some ground-based services into space. It is necessary to find out to what extent decision-making politicians understand the global service paradigm itself and the technology convergence. Following the spectrum and regulation, the question of standardisation arises. New 3GPP releases, 5G services, and eventually 6G, will increasingly impact space technologies. This, in turn, will also influence the regulatory framework.

What can RS give to satcom?

The synergy from the satellite communications side is obvious – fast delivery of remote sensing traffic to the user. Can any counter-effect be expected?

One of the missions of remote sensing systems is to predict natural disasters. Thus, the satellite operator will be able to quickly determine which region will experience increased demand for satellite capacity, recovery and backup of damaged terrestrial communications networks. This means that communications will be provided to rescuers in the very first hours after a disaster, which are the most important in terms of saving people.

The convergence between monitoring services and satellite Internet of Things (IoT) is interesting. The IoT system provides additional reliability by making information available in cases where satellite monitoring is not possible due to weather conditions. At the same time, a remote sensing system provides wide coverage, up to a global scale. Here, each technology harmoniously complements the other.

Repeaters and remote sensing sensors on a single platform

Airbus is engaged in the development and manufacture of Earth observation and communications satellites. When defining a standard architecture for a communications satellite or an Earth observation satellite, it turns out that they do not have much in common. Therefore, there are no talks yet about a single remote sensing and communications system of any kind. First, we need to learn how to place a remote sensing payload and repeaters on the same platform. However, we must not forget how much such a device will cost, and whether the market needs it at such a price.

On the other hand, an operator that orders such satellites should save significantly on launches during large-scale deployment. And here another conflict arises: the orbits where remote sensing satellites operate are not always suitable for the effective operation of a communications constellation. Likewise, optimal orbits for communications satellites are generally not suitable for remote sensing ones.

Among the factors influencing the possibility of creating such a fully connected hybrid system, the panellists named the feasibility of launching satellites into orbit. The synergistic effect cannot be achieved without unimpeded access to space. Experts also agree that it is necessary to include earth stations in a single monitoring and data transmission system; these stations should become fully-fledged multi-tasking elements and be developed within this paradigm.