Pentagon scrambles for more satellites

In the past few months, the Pentagon has been able to move troops, aircraft and warships within reach of Iraq, but it’s still trying to...

In the past few months, the Pentagon has been able to move troops, aircraft and warships within reach of Iraq, but it’s still trying to accumulate enough satellite capacity to serve its communication and strategic needs.

Industry sources say the Pentagon has been scrambling to buy access to commercial satellites to bolster its own space fleet. The military needs the bandwidth to support an information-age battle plan that depends on the ability to transmit huge amounts of data to troops in the field, planes in the air and even weapons in flight.

The Defence Department declined to comment on Wednesday but officials have said the military is using 10 times the satellite capacity it used in the 1991 Gulf War when there was a similar scramble for spectrum.

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In recent months, several companies have announced deals with the US to provide more satellite capacity. On January 17, Space Imaging Inc won a five-year $120 million contract to provide satellite images to the secretive National Imagery and Mapping Agency.

A rival company, Digital Globe, won a similar contract but declined to discuss its price tag. Eutelsat SA, a satellite company based in Paris, won a $100 million contract last fall, The Washington Post reported. Intelsat, a Bermuda-based company, also declined to offer specifics about its work for the US. ‘‘We can confirm we have seen an increase in government and military traffic,’’ said a spokesperson.

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