Webinar: Satcom in Contested Environments: Lessons from the Battlefield and the Future of Drone Connectivity
October 7 | 3:00 am – 4:00 pm
Join AUVSI and Martin Jefferson, Global Solutions Architect at Globalstar, Michael Stratton, Defense Partnerships and Strategic Solutions Manager at Globalstar, and Dmytro Shymkiv, CEO of AeroDrone, on Tuesday, October 7 at 2:00 PM CST for a webinar discussing the rapidly evolving role of satellite communications in contested and denied environments, and what it means for the future of unmanned operations.
This session brings together operators, technologists, and defense solutions leaders to examine what the current era of drone warfare is teaching us about satcom, and what comes next. Speakers will address the hard economics of fielding satellite connectivity on expendable and expeditionary platforms. When connectivity costs consume a significant portion of the total platform cost, the investment no longer makes sense. The conversation will also explore the expanding role of satcom in navigation and positioning resilience, and how private spectrum satellite architectures are reducing network visibility to adversaries as cybersecurity becomes an increasingly active dimension of modern conflict.
Speakers will share firsthand perspective from active combat testing environments, the lessons that transfer directly to U.S. and allied defense applications, and how working closely with military operators continues to shape product development and integration priorities.
What Will Be Discussed
- How RF congestion and contested electromagnetic environments degrade traditional communications links, and why satellite connectivity has become the foundation of reliable beyond-visual-line-of-sight operations
- How operators are managing traffic prioritization across telemetry, command and control, and video feeds when bandwidth is constrained, and how bonding and load-balancing approaches are evolving to meet those demands
- What vendors, integrators, and defense operators need to do together to ensure satcom solutions remain scalable, reconnectable, and cost-effective across large and distributed fleets
Speaker info:
- Martin Jefferson, Global Solutions Architect at Globalstar
- Michael Stratton, Defense Partnerships and Strategic Solutions Manager at Globalstar
- Dmytro Shymkiv, Co-Founder, AeroDrone
