From Innovation to the Battlefield: How HiSKY Is Redefining Military Satellite Communications

An Innovation That Found Its Natural Home in Defense

Modern defense platforms are becoming smaller, smarter and increasingly autonomous. Yet one of their most critical requirements remains unchanged: reliable communications beyond line of sight (BLOS), even in the most challenging operational environments.

For many defense manufacturers, satellite communications have traditionally meant compromises between terminal size, power consumption, cost, operational flexibility and dependence on external network providers.

HiSKY entered this market with a fundamentally different approach.

Rather than developing a traditional military satellite terminal, HiSKY brought years of innovation from the commercial satellite communications industry - combining compact electronically steered antennas, highly efficient communications technology and a complete, integrated satellite network architecture.

Crucially, that architecture can be deployed as a fully private, sovereign network across the customer’s own or controlled satellite and ground infrastructure - giving defense organizations direct control over how their communications operate, rather than leaving mission-critical decisions to an external service provider.

What began as an effort to make satellite communications smaller, simpler and more affordable has evolved into a range of battle-proven defense solutions, positioning HiSKY as a leading technology provider in several mission-critical market segments.

The Foundation: Making Satellite Communications Smaller, Smarter and More Accessible

Founded in 2015, HiSKY set out to challenge the traditional economics and complexity of satellite communications.

Under the leadership of co-founder and former CEO Shahar Kravitz, whose background included extensive experience in defense communications, the company focused on a challenge that conventional satellite systems had largely overlooked: delivering reliable connectivity through extremely compact, affordable terminals, without sacrificing mobility or performance.

Initially targeting commercial applications such as IoT, remote asset management and mobile communications, HiSKY developed its proprietary Smartellite technology around three fundamental principles: minimal size and power requirements, highly efficient satellite communications, and complete end-to-end system control.

Unlike many terminal manufacturers, HiSKY developed not only its electronically steered antennas and modems, but also the communications waveform, ground hub and network management system.

This holistic approach gave the company an unusual level of control over the entire communications chain, allowing it to optimize performance, reduce system complexity and adapt its technology to highly specific customer requirements.

As the company expanded, these capabilities revealed an opportunity far beyond the original commercial market.

A Natural Fit for the Modern Battlefield

The same characteristics that made HiSKY attractive for commercial applications proved particularly valuable in defense.

Modern unmanned systems, loitering munitions, mobile ground platforms and sea assets all face a common challenge: maintaining dependable BLOS communications while operating under severe constraints of size, weight, power and available space.

HiSKY’s technology addresses these requirements through several complementary capabilities.

Low-SWaP terminals: Compact Ku- and Ka-band electronically steered antennas enable satellite connectivity on platforms where conventional terminals are too large, heavy or power-hungry. Low power consumption, a small physical footprint and flexible integration make the technology especially relevant to unmanned and autonomous platforms.

LPI/LPD communications: HiSKY’s proprietary communications technology incorporates low-probability-of-interception and low-probability-of-detection capabilities, helping reduce the communications signature of military platforms operating in contested environments.

Operation without dependence on GPS: HiSKY’s terminals are designed to maintain satellite communications without continuous dependence on GPS, addressing a critical requirement in environments where satellite navigation signals may be disrupted or unavailable.

Efficient use of satellite capacity: The company’s proprietary waveform and network architecture are optimized for efficient use of satellite resources, supporting command and control, telemetry, messaging and other mission-critical data requirements without demanding high-bandwidth, high-power terminals.

Together, these capabilities provide defense system designers with a combination that has historically been difficult to achieve: compact satellite connectivity, operational flexibility and greater independence from external communications infrastructures.

From Technology to Battle-Proven Capability

HiSKY’s transition into the defense sector was not limited to technology demonstrations or theoretical integration concepts.

The company began integrating its solutions into major defense programs undertaken by Israel’s three leading defense manufacturers: Israel Aerospace Industries, Elbit Systems and Rafael.

Working alongside these companies, HiSKY adapted its technology to demanding operational requirements across airborne, ground and sea applications.

These programs provided an opportunity to validate and refine the company’s technology against the practical challenges of military platform integration, operational reliability, power limitations and demanding field conditions.

The result is a portfolio of battle-proven solutions that have moved well beyond the laboratory and into real-world defense applications.

This experience has also strengthened HiSKY’s ability to work directly with defense manufacturers, adapting terminal configurations, modem functionality and network architecture to the specific requirements of each platform and mission.

Building on its experience in Israel, HiSKY is now bringing these capabilities to defense manufacturers and system integrators internationally, addressing the growing demand for compact, resilient and independently controlled satellite communications.

More Than a Terminal: A Sovereign Network Under the Customer’s Command

For defense customers, satellite sovereignty is not simply a matter of encrypting data or purchasing capacity. It is the ability to control the communications chain itself: the terminals, the satellite resources, the gateways, the traffic paths and the rules under which the network operates.

HiSKY enables this model by supplying a complete, integrated SATCOM technology stack — compact user terminals, proprietary modem and waveform technology, ground hubs and network management software. Rather than depending on a publicly operated constellation service, the solution can be deployed on satellite assets and ground infrastructure owned or controlled by the customer. This supports a genuinely private communications environment tailored to national or organizational requirements.

In such an architecture, the customer determines where the gateways are located, how traffic is routed, which users and platforms can connect, how bandwidth is allocated and which missions receive priority. The network can be operated entirely within the customer’s infrastructure, without routing operational traffic over the public internet or through third-party managed gateways.

The strategic value is independence. Where the customer controls both the space and ground segments, an external commercial network operator does not control access, service priorities or the ability to suspend communications. Sensitive missions are no longer subject to another provider’s operating policies, commercial considerations or network management decisions.

Just as importantly, HiSKY can adapt the network to the mission. Because it develops the terminal, modem, hub and network management layers, the company can tailor traffic models, channel configurations, integration interfaces and operational functionality instead of forcing the customer to adapt to a fixed, off-the-shelf service.

For defense primes and system integrators, this makes HiSKY a true one-stop-shop technology partner: one accountable supplier for the complete satellite communications architecture, with the freedom to build private, sovereign and mission-specific networks around the customer’s own assets and operational doctrine.

Building the Next Generation of Defense SATCOM

As military operations evolve, so do the demands placed on satellite communications.

The rapid proliferation of unmanned platforms, growing requirements for autonomous operations and the increasing complexity of contested environments are driving the need for even smaller, more flexible and more resilient communications solutions.

HiSKY is already investing in the next generation of its defense technology to address these requirements.

A central focus is the expansion from its established GEO capabilities toward LEO connectivity and future multi-orbit architectures, enabling customers to benefit from new satellite constellations while maintaining the advantages of compact terminals and privately controlled networks.

In parallel, HiSKY is advancing additional operational capabilities, including greater resilience in GPS-denied environments, enhanced LPI/LPD performance and communications functionality designed to support increasingly complex unmanned and autonomous missions.

The objective remains consistent with the philosophy that shaped the company from the beginning: to make advanced satellite communications simpler, smaller, more efficient and more adaptable to the needs of the customer.

Today, HiSKY brings that philosophy to the defense industry, combining commercial innovation, battle-proven operational experience and the ability to deliver complete private satellite networks.

For defense manufacturers seeking independent BLOS connectivity, the proposition is clear: low-SWaP terminals and a fully integrated, adaptable SATCOM network that can be deployed on customer-controlled space and ground infrastructure- putting communications sovereignty and operational decisions in the customer’s hands.

It offers a complete communications capability- designed around the mission, controlled by the customer and backed by real operational experience.