Global Broadcast Service

Global Broadcast Service is a U.S. military satellite intended primarily for one-way distribution of real-time video and large data files, both over Internet Protocol. The function begain with leased capacity on commercial satellites in 2001, then as additional payloads on the UHF Follow-On (UFO) satellites, and is moving onto the Wideband Global Satellite beginning in 2008. It was originally engineered from commercial applications to support 1996 operations in Bosnia, specifically to send imagery from the MQ-1 Predator. Subsequently, its applications broadened to a wide range of intelligence, targeting, weather and other high-bandwidth applications.

The system, which has been likened to "Direct TV for the warfighters!" by the military program office, involves sending information to the satellites from primary uplink sites (Norfolk, Virginia and Wahiawa, Hawaii in the U.S. and Sigonella, Italy) for geographic areas. Each geographical Unified Combatant Command has a Theater Injection Points (TIP), to inject theater-leval information directly into the GBS service. There are over 700 receiving stations at ground stations of all the U.S. military services, as well as on ships and submarines, the antennas of which can be as small as 18 inches.

The supplemental GBS capacity on UFO satellites use the K_a band; GBS itself does not operate in the UHF range. Leased commercial satellite service for GBS uses the K_u band.

Eventually, they will interconnect with the Warfighter Information Network–Tactical, and satellite systems including the U.S. Army High Capacity Communications Capability (HC3), Family of Advanced Beyond line-of-sight Terminals (FAB-T), and Ground Multi-Band Terminal (GMT).