Date: Jan 15, 2011 Author: Joe Singleton Source: MDA (
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In the digital age, few things can be considered more important than the availability of reliable communications. In the aftermath of calamities such as an earthquake, a hurricane, or an armed conflict, the lack of an electronic link means no phone calls, no e-mail, no news--and a feeling of being utterly lost to the rest of the world. But one MDA-funded company developed a tool that allows civilians, first responders, and warfighters to establish communications links quickly in any weather condition and terrain anywhere around the world.
With SBIR funding help from MDA, GATR Technologies has developed a portable, inflatable antenna geared toward users who need communications capabilities in a variety of environments. The company is actively commercializing the technology and continuing to court government users.
About six years ago, that company, GATR Technologies (Huntsville, AL), developed an inflatable, satellite antenna capable of providing high data-rate transmissions for MDA Ground-based Midcourse Defense (GMD) technologies deployed in remote areas and in all-weather conditions. In August 2005, while GATR worked to complete its MDA SBIR Phase I contract, Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast. The GATR antenna offered the perfect solution for communities that lost communications services as a result of Katrina. The portable, inflatable antenna--shaped like a gigantic beach ball--is capable of withstanding high winds while providing high-speed communications. After Katrina's landfall, GATR set up its inflatable antenna system free-of-charge to let people call their loved ones, allow journalists to file stories, and provide first responders with accurate information before other communications networks were back up and running. GATR's pro-bono Katrina work also allowed the company to test the capabilities of the technology.
How it works
GATR's technology is elegantly simple. The ball-shaped antenna is a two-chambered inflatable sphere--or radome--made of sail material and nylon mesh. Inside the sphere, a satellite dish made of a flexible, reflective, composite material is aligned at the center. The dish effectively divides the orb's interior into two chambers. When the antenna is being inflated, the dish takes on a parabolic shape through the application of additional pressure to the front chamber. This additional pressure pushes the dish back into a familiar dish antenna shape.
To set-up a GATR antenna, the ball is inflated using a device that comes standard with a purchased system. Once inflation is completed, and the dish-shape is achieved, a radio-frequency (RF) transceiver mechanism--which includes a transmitter, receiver, amplifier and modulator--is mounted by the user to the ball. The transceiver is made from off-the-shelf components that have been customized to GATR's requirements. Powered by a generator, batteries, solar, or available electricity, the dish and transceiver work in tandem (like conventional satellite dish-transceiver configurations) to transmit and receive data through satellite relays.
It is important to position the technology properly so the satellite can relay transmitted and received signals. Not only can the GATR antenna be transported just about anywhere, it can be pointed with ease--since the ball can be rotated easily until a signal is acquired. A patented cabling system and hold-down plates enable the antenna to be adjusted in any direction when pointing, and once locked into position can withstand near hurricane-force winds (up to 60 miles per hour) when properly secured. The cables are attached to the hold-down plates before inflation, to ensure the antenna doesn't fly away or become unruly during set-up in windy conditions.
GATR's ball-shaped antenna is a two-chambered inflatable sphere made of sail material and nylon mesh.
Company officials pride themselves on the antenna's portability and ease of use, which are designed to help the warfighter and emergency relief crews, according to GATR President Paul Gierow. All equipment needed to deploy a system fits into two suitcase-sized, hard-plastic cases that weigh about 80 pounds each. GATR sells its systems with the expectation that a working unit can be fully assembled in less than an hour. In field tests conducted this year, the company has achieved assembly in as few as 24 minutes. In addition, GATR embarked this year on developing an even more user-friendly product--a new 1-meter, less than 50-pound satellite antenna designed to fit in a large backpack. The backpack version is expected to go on sale in 2011.
GATR's products also offer attractive cost benefits. A typical single-band terminal sells for about $120,000 to 130,000. Competing rigid dish satellite communication terminals can cost about two to three times as much--$250,000 to $300,000 each--and are eight to ten times the package volume (8-12 large cases)--weighing up to 2,000 pounds.
From MDA to Special Operations
The convenience of GATR's technology has already paid off for users, and MDA is continuing to explore the value of the antenna system.
Five months after Katrina pummeled the Gulf Coast, the agency awarded GATR a SBIR Phase II contract to further develop the technology--support intended ultimately to benefit Ballistic Missile Defense System communications and warfighters. Through this award, GATR further developed its deployable antenna into a bona fide satellite communications system for use at GMD test sites. Not only did GATR improve its technology during the contract period, but the company's antennas were successfully fielded during Terminal High-Altitude Aerial Defense (THAAD) missile launch tests that took place in Hawaii between 2006 and 2008. After the THAAD launches, GATR's antennas relayed data, including unclassified video, that enabled MDA to easily share intercept results with test participants and the public. For example, video and press releases transmitted via the system were relayed to reporters within two hours of launch, in time for the East Coast 6 a.m. newscasts to break the story. GATR's antenna design was an especially good fit for the Hawaiian test environment because it allowed test-support participants to set up communications quickly and easily in a terrain that could pose set-up challenges for more conventional antenna systems.
After the THAAD demonstrations, and following Federal Communications Commission certification of the antenna, the U.S. Army Space and Missile Defense Command (SMDC) agreed to provide additional contract support through a Phase III contract. Gierow said that support was due to the Defense Department's interest in a system capable of rapid deployment anywhere in the world. This support became critical in late 2009 when the U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) adopted GATR's system as a program of record and a supplement to its current system. GATR since received a $26 million Indefinite Delivery/Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract over 5 years to supply portable satellite communication systems for SOCOM. GATR's antennas now are available as Defense Department products for purchase off the General Services Administration schedule.
From surveillance to humanitarian missions
Remote high-speed communications links are needed in other areas beyond national defense. In-Q-Tel, a strategic investment firm tasked to find and deliver innovative technologies to support U.S intelligence agencies, awarded GATR a contract in 2008. Subsequently, according to Gierow, GATR's antennas supported the intelligence community during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver.
Despite GATR's technology enjoying success in the realms of defense and security, the company has maintained its focus on nonmilitary applications and helping people in need. In addition to its Hurricane Katrina work, the company also provided its antenna systems to users along the Texas coast following Hurricane Ike in September 2008.
After Ike, GATR partnered with the Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) to offer help pro bono to people in need. Under this program, MAF has flown GATR personnel free to various remote trouble spots to provide or enhance communications, such as in Lesotho. The program gives GATR the opportunity to test its technologies under some of the most grueling conditions while fulfilling the company's humanitarian mission. The GATR communications also were used aboard the USNS Comfort as part of Operation Continuing Promise, which provided free health services to the needy in the Caribbean and off the coast of South America.
Most recently, through a mission jointly funded by SOCOM and the Air Force Special Operations Command, GATR's antennas were deployed to provide emergency communications after the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti. GATR not only met the challenge to rapidly deploy satellite communications equipment to earthquake-ravaged Haiti, but was the first organization to provide any high-speed emergency transmissions after the disaster, Gierow said. The company deployed four units to Haiti, and the units remained in operation until March.
The company's humanitarian mission in Haiti sparked the interest of the Department of Homeland Security, which in mid-2010 bought eight satellite antennas for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
While GATR moves toward becoming a larger manufacturer and selling more equipment, Gierow hopes to support more applications within the Ballistic Missile Defense System. These hopes are based on SOCOM's use of GATR's 2.4-meter system to track microsatellites or "nanosats" in low-earth orbit. Gierow said that if the nanosat tracking proves successful, MDA may consider the technology not only as a proven satellite communications device, but as one capable of tracking spaceborne objects as well. Gierow's high hopes for the technology are not without validation. NASA's Glenn Research Center has conducted range tracking tests using GATR's 2.4-meter system. The tracking tests were successful and won GATR a coveted "R&D 100" award for new technologies.
After more than 500 documented deployments of the GATR satellite antenna system worldwide, the company has grown from an R&D company to an emerging manufacturer, with its technology spread throughout the government and commercial sectors. And more antenna deployments mean more revenue for the company, whose sales have jumped tenfold during the past five years. Gierow points to that growth as one of the reasons the company was named to Inc. magazine's "Inc. 500" list of the fastest-growing private companies in 2009 and 2010.
Contact Information
Paul Gierow
GATR Technologies
Tel: (256) 382-1334, ext. 6001
E-mail: pgierow@gatr.com
Web: www.gatr.com
