What is MILSATCOM?
Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) refers to satellite communication systems specifically designed, operated, or reserved for national military and government use. MILSATCOM systems incorporate features not available in commercial satellites: jam resistance (frequency hopping, spread spectrum, null steering against jammers), anti-spoofing authentication, protected waveforms, hardened encryption, and sometimes hardening against nuclear electromagnetic pulse (NEMP). They operate under military command and control with independent ground infrastructure.
Major MILSATCOM systems
US WGS (Wideband Global SATCOM): 10 GEO satellites operated by the US Space Force, providing X-band and Ka-band military communications to DoD and allied forces globally. WGS-11 and -12 are planned additions. UK Skynet 5 and 6: British military satellite series operated by Airbus UK under a DFARS-compliant PFI contract; provides UHF, X-band, and Ka-band. France Syracuse 4: Two GEO satellites providing Ka-band and X-band; jointly used with Italy under a Franco-Italian cooperation agreement. NATO: Uses a combination of national MILSATCOM systems and commercial SATCOM leased capacity for alliance-wide connectivity.
COMSATCOM and commercial augmentation
Military organisations supplement dedicated MILSATCOM with commercial satellite capacity (COMSATCOM). The US DoD is consistently one of the largest purchasers of commercial satellite bandwidth globally — leasing Ku and Ka-band transponder capacity for logistics, unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) control links, and troop communications. Ukraine's use of Starlink during the 2022–2024 conflict demonstrated that commercial LEO mega-constellations can provide battlefield communications at a scale and resilience that complements or temporarily substitutes for dedicated MILSATCOM.