Hughes wins $42.5 million Space Force task order for multi-orbit satellite control

Hughes Network Systems, an EchoStar company, received a $42.5 million task order on Oct. 29, 2026, from the U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command for automated Enterprise Management and Control architecture across defense communications networks.

The task order directs Hughes to provide unified multi-orbit operational control software linking military and commercial satellite communication systems into one coordinated tactical network. The system provides real-time situational awareness across heterogeneous orbital regimes. It lets tactical transceivers switch traffic among geostationary (GEO), medium Earth (MEO), and low Earth orbit (LEO) constellations under the Oct. 29, 2026 award. The architecture connects directly to the Defense Department’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control system.

Hughes will embed its Terminal Management Agent software and automated resource-sharing algorithms into fielded military user terminals and enterprise ground nodes under the award. Crews using Hughes HM-series modems and standard software-defined tactical radios obtain automated failover without manually repositioning dishes or submitting alternate satellite access requests. Ground segment software nodes keep checking link health, latency measurements, and packet error rates, then pick the best routes using preset operational mission priorities. By watching radio frequency interference and throughput loss, the software moves mission-critical data across backup orbital paths within milliseconds when a main link suffers jamming or physical disruption.

The work extends earlier Hughes efforts to upgrade tactical communications for joint expeditionary operations. In 2021, the U.S. Air Force chose Hughes as a prime contractor under the Advanced Battle Management System indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity framework, where it first used its Terminal Management Agent for strong multi-transport networking. That 2021 effort showed policy-based automated routing algorithms can handle changing radio frequency conditions across scattered operating bases. Hughes later built military network integration skills through a Defense Department standalone 5G deal for naval air stations and an Army 5G Open RAN installation award at bases.

Those earlier standalone enterprise routing protocols now move into a unified command-and-control setup under the new Space Systems Command order. Hughes won a $6.5 million contract to set up a 5G open radio access network test model at Fort Bliss in El Paso, Texas, with a RAN intelligent controller for Defense Department software tests. That Fort Bliss effort was one of the subsequent defense programs through which Hughes matured military network integration capabilities before the new Space Systems Command task order.

The new Space Systems Command order moves those separate enterprise routing rules into one command-and-control setup running military satellite constellations such as Wideband Global SATCOM together with commercial low Earth and geostationary orbit networks. The platform supports the Commercial Satellite Communications Office plan to blend commercial capacity into military designs.

Rick Lober, vice president and general manager of the Hughes Defense & Intelligence Systems Division, said securing resilient, uninterrupted connectivity across contested operational environments means leaving stovepiped satellite architectures behind. Lober added that the Space Systems Command award validates Hughes automated management and control capabilities, letting tactical operators access commercial and military capacity seamlessly.

"Securing resilient, uninterrupted connectivity across contested operational environments requires moving beyond stovepiped satellite architectures,"

Rick Lober, Hughes Secures $42.5M Space Systems Command Award for Multi-Orbit Automated EM&C Architecture

Lober added that modern battlefields need software-defined flexibility to stay ahead of enemy electronic warfare and keep joint forces in sync during operations across multiple domains. This view connects the architecture to broader resilient-satellite-operations goals for contested environments.

Hughes and Space Systems Command will begin lab hardware-in-the-loop testing at SSC integration sites in El Segundo, California, in the first quarter of 2027. The bench phase will test handover delay between networks, cyber protection under Zero Trust rules (continuous verification for all users and devices), and fit with older defense modems. After lab work, field demonstrations should start in the middle of 2027 at U.S. Indo-Pacific Command regional staging locations. The Pacific drills will check dynamic failover under simulated contested conditions before broad terminal software rollout to operating units, setting a tested multi-orbit military communications standard.

The Defense Department and Space Force are carrying out the 2019 Digital Modernization Strategy, including tougher resilient designs for military satellite communications. This SATCOM modernization, including enterprise management and control, aims to open core enterprise abilities and make DoD SATCOM more flexible, quick, and strong.

Hughes won a STAR-FISH award from the Air Force Research Laboratory RAPID program for smart space data networks using Defense Department, allied, and commercial satellite communications. The award supports intelligent space data networks that leverage DoD, allied, and commercial satellite communication networks as part of broader hybrid network research. Hughes Network Systems obtained a U.S. Air Force research contract reported Mar. 18, 2026, through the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Rapid Architecture Prototyping and Integration Development program to study new methods for overseeing hybrid satellite communications networks combining military, allied, and commercial systems.

RAPID research efforts center on keeping connections alive in contested or degraded settings where conventional communications systems may fail. The effort looks at software-defined networking to adjust bandwidth dynamically and direct data across many communication domains. The resulting capabilities may help keep command centers, deployed forces, and tactical edge assets connected.

The research builds on the Department of Defense’s Enterprise SATCOM Management and Control program, intended to coordinate access to an expanding mix of military and commercial systems. The program is part of broader defense efforts to improve satellite network management. Under the contract, Hughes will review artificial intelligence and machine learning tools that watch network conditions and send traffic over available communication links automatically.