Comsatcom Acquisition Could Be $700M Yearly | AVIATION WEEK

By Amy Butler, Aviation Week , Posted 01/04/10

Link: http://www.aviationnow.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/COMSAT123109.xml&head...

"The US government is embarking on an comprehensive, 20-year program worth as much as $700 million per year to procure commercial satellite bandwidth and services to support the Defense Dept. and state and local agencies." This is the Future Comsatcom Services Acquisition (FCSA) program that will merge the needs of these groups for a potential "15-20% in savings." According to the article, FCSA is "not a replacement" for the terminated Transformational Satellite (TSAT) system, "but the access it will provide to bandwidth will relieve some of the burden left after the program's termination." A request for proposals is expected to be issued this February. Defense Information Systems Agency program executive officer Bruce Bennett "says the goal now is to protect the signals traveling to and from the satellite as opposed to physical protection of the satellites."  Thanks to AIAA News.