It becomes clear why Viasat are keen to have LEO slots available - and they do have at least one powerful voice on their side…
https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield...-16-satellite/
Viasat to add military-grade encryption to experimental Link 16 satellite
WASHINGTON — A new Link 16-capable satellite being developed by Viasat will feature military-grade encryption, the company announced June 1.
Link 16 is the U.S. military’s primary tactical data exchange network, allowing joint war fighters to share information on the location of friendly and enemy forces to build a common operating picture of the battlefield.
But while Link 16 is of critical importance to the military in understanding the modern battlefield, it is technically limited to communications to other terminals within line of sight. In other words, it can’t be used to incorporate data from sensors and war fighters that are too far away.
The Air Force Research Laboratory wanted to change that. In 2019,
the lab issued a $10 million contract to Viasat through the Space Enterprise Consortium to build a Link 16-capable satellite.
By directly tying into the Link 16 tactical network from low Earth orbit, the satellite could provide a connection node with beyond-line-of-sight forces. This space vehicle would use the vantage of orbit to connect — via Link 16 — systems that would otherwise be limited to line-of-sight communications…..
The experimental Viasat satellite will help
reduce risk for the ambitious plans of the Space Development Agency, which is working to launch a new proliferated constellation made up of
hundreds of satellites mostly in low Earth orbit.
That constellation will create a mesh network on orbit with
optical intersatellite links (OISL) that can transport data from satellite to satellite all over the globe.
Just like with the AFRL satellite, SDA plans to outfit some of its satellites with Link 16 terminals, essentially enabling the U.S. military to push data to war fighters all over the world via the tactical network. Six of the agency’s first satellites — set to begin launching in 2022 — will be outfitted with Link 16 terminals.
Viasat initially anticipated launching the experimental satellite in summer 2020 but has pushed back the launch to fall 2021.