Australia’s SATCOM ambitions resurge in RFI for narrowband capability

The Australian government issued a request for information (RFI) among industry regarding military satellite communication (SATCOM) systems at the end of June 2025.

However, it appears that the call to industry has resurrected some aspects of a contract that the government had previously cancelled towards the end of 2024, more than eight months ago.

Joint Project (JP)-9102, as it was known, would have delivered a wideband and narrowband, geostationary earth orbit (GEO) SATCOM constellation until the Department of Defence (DoD) cancelled the project, having changed its requirements from a single-orbit system to a multi-orbit capability after 18-months of development with Lockheed Martin Australia.

The resurgent Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA)-9102, as the RFI is now known, requests knowledge of capabilities in the space systems market offering a narrowband, ultra-high frequency (UHF) SATCOM system, with a focus on resilient satellites that mitigate against electromagnetic interference.

RFI details

The SPA structure under which Australia are considering existing SATCOM capabilities contrasts with JPs in that they provide broader scope, long term thinking, compared to the narrower end capability pursued under a JP structure.

The RFI is open to any company that believes they have something to offer. This nascent stage only calls for insight into existing capabilities available today; no selection or proposals will be made at this point, it is purely a research endeavour.

After the RFI process, the government will consider possible solutions and understand what industry can provide before requesting specific requirements. A proposal phase will likely follow some time later.

At present, the Australia Defence Forces rely on a collection of SATCOM systems. One of which is a US-managed system, the Wideband Global SATCOM manufactured by Boeing.

But even without access to WGS, Australia has some commercial capabilities which include a communications payload, as well as a UHF communications payload on a satellite that covers the Indian Ocean.

Self-reliance and fast access are still the main reasons for the procurement of a sovereign system.

To that end, on 14 July 2025, the Australian government also announced it had agreed to provide A$4m ($2.6m) as part of a co-funded project with Optus to develop and launch a low earth orbit (LEO) satellite.

The project will support research and technology development while building Australian sovereign expertise in optical and LEO communications.

Meanwhile, the SPA-9102 considers a resilient UHF satellite that is interoperable with current in-service user radios and Australian Network Control Stations operating Integrated Waveforms.

The DoD provides voice and data connectivity between deployed ADF users through an existing fleet of UHF radios. Any proposed solution needs to interoperate with existing user radios in their current configuration.

Reversal

Australia’s latest criteria under SPA-9102 is a strange reversal in thinking from when the government cancelled JP-9102, shifting their requirement to a more versatile multi-orbit satellite system. Now, the RFI still calls for a single-orbit GEO system.

The reason for this back-tracking is subject to speculation with some observers suggesting there had been a significant cost overrun before the cancellation. Nonetheless, it will doubtless cast confusion over Australia’s intentions for its future space-based communications.

At the same time, the RFI for a narrower capability should not be construed as scaling down government ambitions for sovereign SATCOM, urged Dr Malcolm Davies, an Australian Strategic Policy Institute analyst, on social media.

It’s important to see this as a request for information on a specific aspect of satcom – namely, electromagnetic interference risks on narrowband UHF satcom, rather than a ‘scaling down’ of ADF satcom capabilities and ambitions as a whole.

There are justified concerns about…

— Dr. Malcolm Davis 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 (@Dr_M_Davis) July 3, 2025

However, this confusion will only serve to hinder relations between government an industry, already a perennial problem in defence, for fear among suppliers of unexpected changes.

Although the government stated at the time of the cancellation last year that the decision was made in light of the “acceleration in space technologies and evolving threats”, this reality will always be the case at a time of global – and celestial – animosity.