TrustComm, a U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) satellite communications application specialist, is now a distribution partner of OneWeb. The companies announced an MoU on March 26 that TrustComm will deliver connectivity from OneWeb’s satellites in Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) to U.S. government customers.
TrustComm holds a number of DoD contract vehicles to provide managed satellite services and specializes in combining satellite and terrestrial systems into interoperable networks.
According to the announcement, OneWeb’s partnership with TrustComm will bring its connectivity from Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) satellites to early adopters including the U.S. Naval Research Lab, and the U.S. Army Futures Research Lab. The agreement initially focuses on northern latitudes. OneWeb and TrustComm also expect to support the biennial Ice Exercise (ICEX) in the Arctic in 2022.
Dylan Browne, OneWeb’s head of Government Services, commented in the release that the U.S. DoD is OneWeb’s largest single customer and this agreement will ensure the company can contract for service in November when the network goes live.
“We are truly excited by the potential and advantages that OneWeb’s LEO system brings to the U.S. and other government users on a global scale,” TrustComm CEO Bob Roe said in the release. “We will be able to bring this capability to market quickly using our existing U.S. government contracts, especially CS3 and GSA. OneWeb’s unique architecture and focus on scalable solutions supported by clear SLAs [service level agreements] make it a perfect fit for the TrustComm portfolio.”
OneWeb is building a satellite constellation to provide broadband internet access for governments, cellular backhaul, and mobility markets like aviation, maritime, and land. This latest news came after the company saw the successful launch of its second batch of satellites since the company came out of Chapter 11
bankruptcy. Arianespace launched 36 satellites on March 25, bringing OneWeb’s constellation to 146 satellites.
This article was originally published in our sister publication Via Satellite.