NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center to Use Commercial Satellite Capacity

To support its Global Hawk Program, NASA's Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC) is tapping Gaithersburg, Maryland-based UltiSat, Incorporated to provide commercial Ku-band satellite capacity with coverage of the Continental United States (CONUS), Atlantic and Pacific. AFRC operates Global Hawk UAV aircraft for atmospheric research, including the assessment and monitoring of developing tropical storms to forecast storm tracks and potential landfall points for advanced notifications and warnings. UltiSat is a provider of end-to-end managed satellite communications (SATCOM) networks. "UltiSat is proud to support this scientific application of our SATCOM services,” Steve Roth, UltiSat program director, said. "We are extremely pleased that our modest contribution to the Airborne Science Program will help to enhance the ability to forecast storm strength and path, provide more accurate warnings to the most likely affected populations, and in the end save lives."