After development of a STAMPS type antenna terminal in this program, NASA SATCOM terminal antennas would become available and cost-effective. These SATCOM antenna terminals would be applicable for both manned and unmanned aircraft, but other platforms may find similar benefits based on the reduced cost relative to conventional phased arrays and the modular assembly approach for other frequency bands of interest. A commercial Ku/Ka SATCOM system will provide greater flexibility in mobile applications by increasing data capacities and availability to airborne users. The combination of electro-mechanical and active array pointing capabilities would allow for lower cost navigation units to be used in all applications of the system. This can be accomplished by using the coarse pointing properties of the navigation system and the electro-mechanical positioner and the fine pointing capability of the active array and a signal strength feedback network. The market size can be viewed at around $50M for the NASA and government market, which is based on outfitting approximately 100 airborne platforms, of which there are several hundred currently in the DoD's inventory. It is estimated that this system will sell competitively in this market. Initial deployment is expected to exceed 10% of this market size. Smaller systems could be used to support ground vehicles. Full size systems would also be applicable to maritime use. After development of a STAMPS type antenna terminal in this program, commercial airborne SATCOM terminal antennas would become available and cost-effective. These SATCOM antenna terminals would be applicable for both manned and unmanned aircraft, but other platforms may find similar benefits based on the reduced cost relative to conventional phased arrays and the modular assembly approach for other frequency bands of interest. The commercial airline industry will be the target non-NASA market. A commercial Ku/Ka SATCOM system will provide greater flexibility in mobile networking markets by increasing data capacities and availability to airborne users for the airline industry. The combination of electro-mechanical and active array pointing capabilities would allow for lower cost navigation units to be used in all applications of the system. This can be accomplished by using the coarse pointing properties of the navigation system and the electro-mechanical positioner and the fine pointing capability of the active array and a signal strength feedback network. The commercial market is significantly larger than the government market. There are currently 8000 passenger aircraft in the U.S. With domestic and foreign sales the total market is roughly 10x this quantity (about 100,000 aircraft). It is estimated that this system will sell competitively in civilian markets. Initial deployment is expected to exceed 10% of this market size.
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