Government as Customer of Space Commerce
Satellite Transponder Leasing
The U.S. government is a major customer of commercial satellite communications services to support its growing needs for voice, video, and data in both fixed and mobile environments. Over 80% of all U.S. government and military satellite communications goes through commercial services.
The commercial provision of satellite communications services typically involves the leasing of transponders, discrete units on the spacecraft that receive and re-transmit data on their own radio channels. A single communication satellite can fly dozens of transponders, each leased to a different customer.
The SATCOM-II program run by the General Services Administration (GSA) allows agencies across the federal government to purchase a full range of end-to-end satellite communications services using simplified procedures. Within the Defense Department, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) acquires commercial satellite communications services to help meet the military's bandwidth needs, which cannot be met by military systems alone.
Learn more at GSA.gov... Learn more at DISA.mil...Combined GSA-DISA Acquisition
In August 2009, DISA and GSA announced their partnership on Future COMSATCOM Services Acquisitions (FCSA). The two agencies have agreed to combine their acquisition efforts in this area upon the expiration of the current DISA and GSA commercial satellite communications services contracts, starting in 2011. This should eliminate duplication of effort and produce cost savings for U.S. government agencies, as well as state, local and tribal governments.
Read more about FCSA at GSA.gov...
