14 DAY TRIAL // Engineers at Northrop Grumman have recently been able to demonstrate that a satellite communications (SATCOM) system can be repurposed as a low-cost option for improving aircraft communication in Earth's atmosphere. The entire conversion process took just a year to complete.
The team behind the achievement says that the system is capable of relaying data between satellites and ground station at an unprecedented rate. There is a very high chance that the military or other institutional customers will be very interested in this new capability, analysts comment.
“It's a game changer for those that need high-quality, real-time data, but don't want to – or can't – have a large, heavy communications system onboard. Our system provides beyond line of sight capabilities in a compact, lightweight, low-profile package,” Northrop Aerospace Systems Technology Director Brett Amidon explains.
The test version of the system was installed aboard a Northrop Firebird demonstrator aircraft, in a special enclosure that you can see on top of the airplane. In addition to saving space from conventional communication systems, the new device also improves aircraft fuel efficiency, Northrop experts concluded.