Mobile Balloon Satellite to See Action with 11th MEU
Space Data Corporation trains the unit on how to use SkySat, a balloon communications system that mimics the function of traditional satellites without the cost and bulk.
Addressing the long-range communication problems Marines encounter in the field, Space Data Corporation of Chandler, AZ, held a demo and training exercise using its SkySat Military Near-Space Wireless Communication balloon device with the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit last week.
“What’s nice about the system is it’s compatible with the standard tactical radios,” said Space Data CEO Jerry Knoblach, adding that a significant portion of the UHF radios the military has in inventory is compatible with the technology.
“A handheld radio that typically talks five kilometers handheld to handheld will top at 1000 kilometers with the use of the SkySat,” Knoblach said. “Usually it takes maximum transmit power to talk those five kilometers and here at a minimum transmit power they can talk a thousand kilometers.”
Space Data provides two versions of their SkySat device: a tethered model, which is limited to around 400 feet and 20 to 30 miles of elevation, and a non-tethered model that can reach heights of more than 65,000 feet and provide a communications range of around 600 miles. Both can be filled with helium or hydrogen.
“We started with near-space, which can be defined as the area above airplanes, but below satellites—it’s sort of the neglected area in the atmosphere that hasn’t been leveraged much today,” Knoblach said. “It starts at about 65,000 feet at the top of the thunderstorm clouds and goes up. That provides a very wide area for communication.”
The balloon, which takes around 60 to 90 minutes to reach altitude can be launched from the back of a truck or Humvee.
It creates a pseudo satellite in the sky, but it’s a satellite that you can launch from a vehicle and it’ll last about a day—so it’s very expeditionary, Knoblach added.
“From up there you can get up to a 600-mile diameter footprint,” Knoblach said, adding that while terrain plays a part on the total communications range, troops will still be able to get hundreds of miles of range even on mountainous terrain like Afghanistan.
The unit, which can also transmit data, including photographs and sensitive materials like bio-scan profiles, has seen action with the 13th and 26th MEUs, as well as with local law enforcement and the Border Patrol.
Due to its close range to the ground—almost 25 times closer than the nearest satellite—the SkySat can be equipped using the latest consumer technology, such as digital cameras, and be able to provide higher resolution than those found in traditional satellite platforms.
“Anything you can do with a satellite, you can do with this," Knoblach said. "And since you’re a lot closer to the ground, it’s a lot cheaper and is able to use the latest in commercial technology without all the weight and complexity of propellers and engines that a big airship has to have.”
Each unit costs around $10,000 to operate and has a 12-hour battery life netting an hourly operation cost of around $830 an hour, far cheaper than alternative methods, Knoblach said.
Being a mobile communications device, the SkySat is designed to drop its payload after its batteries are discharged or whenever a mission is completed.
“Unlike a free-drifting balloon this is actually a wind-steered balloon so you launch and you sample the wind as it reaches altitude and most of the time you can find winds going opposite directions,” Knoblach said. “Once your mission is over, you just release from the balloon and there is a predictor so you know what the fall-rate of the parachute is and how the winds are.”
Data is then erased and the lithium sulfur dioxide battery automatically discharges as the balloon loses altitude, keeping all sensitive information safe from the enemy.
The unit is considered environmentally friendly and consists of a nonhazardous charging device and a latex balloon, which is biodegradable, Knoblach said.
“We can go out anywhere especially in some of the operating areas we have right now where normal communication methods don’t necessarily work long distances,” said Gunnery Sgt. Michael Sission with the 11th MEU. “With this we can go in any terrain in any environment and talk hundreds of miles.”
