The XTAR team has been engaged in a number of activities over the past few months demonstrating the XTAR system capabilities. We are encouraged by the results and seeing signs that these efforts are paying off.

The most significant development this last quarter was the recent announcement that the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) is making commercial X-band available for U.S. and Allied government users (see below). This allows approved contractors to act as "neutral agents" for the government and negotiate and acquire bandwidth services from any global or regional satellite operator. This is a promising development for commercial providers of X-band services such as XTAR. It further validates the case for commercially provided X-band services and we anticipate it will open the door to Department of Defense operators seeking X-band capacity to augment existing X Band MILSAT capacity.

In addition, we participated in a number of hands-on events demonstrating how the military can use our X-band capacity (see below). Two of our executives spent a week in Europe visiting all of the military commands to promote XTAR's extensive coverage area now that both of our satellites are on orbit. And we are proposing a demonstration for first responders from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Northern Command to show how the availability of our X-band coverage in the Eastern U.S. could help with another Katrina-like event.

XTAR continues to work with the US Department of State, providing additional service to its Diplomatic Telecommunications Service Program Office (DTS-PO). Also, the Spanish Ministry of Defense uses XTAR to serve its military operations in Afghanistan, where it has troops as part of NATO's International Security Assistance Force. Discussions are also underway with a number of other groups, including the Air Force Laboratory at Rome, NY as part of test exercises of military satellite communications.

XTAR most recently exhibited at the Strategic Space Symposium in Omaha, NE, home to the US Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM). We highlighted the high-powered capability of XTAR and our ability to meet the unique communications needs of today's warfighters, such as communications on the move. We have also maintained an active participation in the Mission Assurance Working Group sponsored by the National Security Space Office, USSTRATCOM and the Satellite Industry Association, to evaluate how best to incorporate commercial SATCOM into the MILSATCOM architecture.

The technology is readily available to conduct a teleconference between two business offices in a big city, but try this: conduct a video teleconference (VTC) between a military base in the United States and a moving Humvee in a faraway combat zone, while a convoy commander in the vehicle is simultaneously conferring with the unit commander, and the intelligence analyst is checking the latest route information via the same link.

XTAR demonstrated such a scenario on XTAR-LANT during the recent AUSA Annual Meeting and Exposition in Washington. Each of the 50 participants rode in a Humvee and saw first-hand how XTAR and DRS-CODEM conducted the video teleconference, employing an 18-inch antenna and very limited power supply, instead of a typical antenna larger than 8 feet with amplifiers in the hundreds of watts.

The key to the demonstration was keeping the small antenna locked continuously on the satellite. The way a dish tracks a satellite is not new science but this particular tracking algorithm intentionally keeps the antenna in constant motion. By using a nutation scheme the signal will restore almost instantly after a blockage caused by a building, tunnel, etc. As a result, blockages are almost unnoticeable during a VTC such as demonstrated by XTAR at AUSA.

The Communications-Electronics Research Development and Engineering Center (CERDEC) at Fort Monmouth sponsored the AUSA demonstration specifically to feature the results of their contract with DRS-CODEM for a small, mobile terminal. Cor Westerhoff, XTAR Vice President for Programs and Operations, represented XTAR in the demonstration. "Several participants thought we were using a Ku band device and were surprised to learn that X-Band can be used so effectively for a video conference," he reported.

"Given the capabilities of the average cell phone these days you might think that demonstrating video teleconferencing in a moving vehicle is not that much of a leap to be impressive," he added. "This audience, however, understood the significance of transmitting with X-band to a rough-terrain vehicle on the move. The most significant characteristic is that it can be done anywhere within the footprint of the satellite and it can be provided right now."

WE ARE XTAR

Gary W. Chesney
Executive Director, Products & Services

Gary Chesney began working on military space systems almost immediately upon reporting for Air Force duty after college. He has spent his entire career on space and satellite work since. Gary joined XTAR from Space Systems/Loral in 2003 shortly after the company was formed in July 2001. At SS/L, he served as Executive Director, Strategic Issues, reporting directly to the SS/L President, with responsibilities for investigating, assessing and recommending solutions to technical and political issues impacting the success of Loral's communications satellite manufacturing business.

In his XTAR position, Gary is responsible for finding applications for XTAR bandwidth with U.S. Government customers, with a primary focus on the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and Department of State, as well as the intelligence community.

Gary also works with developers of X-band SATCOM technologies, both commercial and government R&D centers, to facilitate development and demonstration of new terminal products for exploiting XTAR's high power. Areas of focus include "communications-on-the-move" (COTM) terminals for ground, air and sea-based applications, as well as small, lightweight manpacks for Special Forces.

Gary retired from the Air Force as a Lieutenant Colonel after serving in such stations as the National Reconnaissance Office, the Air Staff's Research and Development Directorate in the Pentagon, and the Air Force's Space and Missile Center.

A graduate of the University of Illinois with both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in electrical engineering, Gary completed the course work for a Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering with the University of Southern California. He and his wife Pamela, a librarian at the University of San Francisco, live in San Jose, Calif. They have two grown sons.