Mission
Provide a one-way, high-speed flow of near-real-time wideband information to forces garrisoned or deployed.
Background
Beginning in 1998, GBS broadcasts via communication payloads on two UFO Ka-Band augmented satellites, four Commercial Satellites (Ku Band), and all WGS satellites (Ka- and X-Band). GBS Satellite Broadcast Manager (SBM) Sites in Norfolk, VA, Sigonella, IT, and Wahiawa, HI, currently service 1000+ GBS receive suites deployed world-wide at Army, Marine, Navy, Air Force ground sites, shipboard and subsurface platforms and at NORTHCOM-sponsored homeland defense organizations worldwide.
U.S. Space Force's vision in the mid-to-late WGS timeframe (2010-2015) is to leverage the validated wideband product lines such as GMT and Army WIN-T to support GBS product reception (one-way) and when prioritized and funded, provide reach-back (two-way) of GBS services.
Features
GBS operates as a one-way, wideband transmission service capable of supporting timely delivery of classified and unclassified data and video products for mission support and theater information transfer. GBS leverages commercial satellite broadcast technology to deliver large imagery and data files that would overload typical tactical network capacity. GBS disseminates Internet Protocol (IP)-based real-time video and large data files over-the-air (up to 45 Mbps) to garrisoned and deployed combat forces using net-centric prioritized delivery based on unit mission reception priority profiles. It is the primary method used to disseminate Full Motion Video (FMV) from Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), such as the Predator and Reaper, to tactically deployed warfighters. GBS is a critical piece of the DoD's Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) architecture. GBS operates using SBM sites, Primary and Theater Injection Points (PIP/TIP), DoD Teleport Gateways, military and commercial satellites and Transportable Ground Receive Suites (TGRS). The SBM is the primary broadcast content site through which information products are transmitted once to the satellite via PIPs and Teleport Gateways and received by multiple simultaneous receivers saving valuable bandwidth. Through use of the TIP, GBS is capable of injecting information directly from within a theater of operations under the Theater Commander's control.
Initial Operational Capability (IOC) for GBS Phase 2 Block II was declared in October 2008. In early FY14, GBS will transition the current SBM's to a Defense Enterprise Computing Center (DECC) hosted capability with data available via DoD Teleports and across the Global Information Grid (GIG).
General Characteristics
Primary Function: High-capacity product dissemination (Imagery, UAS full-motion video, large data files) for mission-essential situational awareness
Primary Contractor: Broadcast: (DECC) Lockheed Martin and (legacy) Raytheon; Receive Suites Raytheon, General Dynamics and Windmill International; legacy sustainment/O&M Raytheon
Payload: Transponded Ka/Ku-band and transponded, cross-banded-X and Ka-band communications suites; UHF, WGS, GBS
Satellite Antennas: Fixed receive antenna for primary uplinks, steerable receive antenna for theater uplinks
Capability: Typically, 180 Mb/s per WGS satellite based on current allocation of 4 transponders per satellite for GBS content