Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) missions are becoming significantly relevant in the UAV industry. These operation allow for the coverage of large areas in order to accomplish different purposes, including surveillance, cargo delivery, and inspections, etc.
During these operations, due to the distance between the platform and the GCS, alternatives to the traditional communication systems based on UHF should be sought. One of these alternatives is satellite communication, which has proven to be a great ally to get global coverage. Thanks to SATCOMs, the operator may have information about the mission, execute actions, or even control the payload almost in real-time.
Traditionally, SATCOM devices were characterized by their big size and weight and the high amount of power required to make them work, therefore, not all UAVs were ready to include this technology. However, the quick expansion of the UAV technology has made a difference where SATCOM manufacturers start producing a range of devices oriented to RPAS. Additionally, the use of this technology has been characterized by the high costs associated; for this reason, it was used by big companies and state security forces.
However, the recent emergence of data plans with competitive prices has opened the use of this technology to other companies and projects. This, together with rational use of the bandwidth and algorithms of control of the amount of data when making use of these channels, have made satellite communication a viable option for UAS.
UAV Navigation and Satlink have started to collaborate in the development of solutions that respond to the specific needs of the UAV sector (video transmission, fleet management, etc.), seeking different products, options, and adapted data plans for its customers.
Once more, UAV Navigation shows its commitment to understanding the problems of the sector and searching for viable alternatives, both technical and economical, to solve them. This way, the company increases the ecosystem of compatible systems that form an important part of the flight control solution.
