Australia Scraps $7 Billion Defence Satellite Program Citing Newer Threats

Australia’s Department of Defence has cancelled a $7 billion ($4.62 billion) contract with U.S. defence contractor Lockheed Martin for a military satellite communications system, saying current threats were more advanced than the technology. “Instead of a single orbit solution, Defence must instead prioritise a multi-orbit capability increasing resilience for the Australian Defence Force,” the Department said in a statement cited by AAP. It’s a move the U.S. Department of Defence has also adopted due to fears about their vulnerability. How Satellite Networks Work Broadly speaking, single-orbit satellites are high above the planet’s surface (35,786 kilometres) and track the rotation of the Earth, so they appear to be stationary overhead....