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Software-Defined Satellites: Hardware Goes Commodity and Software is the new Discriminator
Technology changes rapidly, but traditionally once a satellite is launched, its design and technology have been frozen. Satellites have been deployed to perform specific tasks until their end of life brings them crashing down back to earth. Being able to make updates mid-way through the life of a satellite has not been a normal design criterion for satellites up until now.
To date, traditional satellite designs have been inflexible and did not allow configuration updates. There was no space systems interconnection and no way to provide fine-grained services.
But that’s changing.
Researchers from the National University of Defense Technology wrote that “next-generation satellites are becoming configurable via software changes through interaction with ground systems.”
Theresa Condor, general manager at Spire, said that “satellite capabilities can be upgraded using software, improving data collection, data processing, operations optimization, or download capacity through software improvements. This is where the entire market has to go.”
Adam Johnson, SmartSat director for Lockheed Martin, said that “the market is going toward where software is becoming the discriminator, whereas before, hardware was the discriminator. Software is the asset, while hardware is the commodity.”
Jeffrey Freedman, CEO of Kythera Space Solutions, said that “most future satellites will be software-defined. The cost of production will drive the market. A satellite that can be reconfigured to support any market can be mass-produced. This will dramatically lower costs. Spacecraft manufacturers who don’t follow this model will be pushed out of the business by less expensive more flexible competitors.”
