# Leveraging Federated Satellite Systems for Unmanned Medical Evacuation on the Battlefield

## TL;DR

This paper explores how federated satellite systems can improve unmanned medical evacuation missions in combat zones by enhancing communication and response times.

## Contribution

The novelty lies in evaluating federated satellite systems for MEDEVAC missions through simulation, highlighting their performance advantages over standalone systems.

## Key findings

- Federated satellite systems outperform standalone systems in mission duration and data latency for MEDEVAC.
- Low-Earth-orbit constellations in FSS enable faster response times and low latency for real-time control.
- Hybrid satellite architectures and international collaboration improve scalability and interoperability in MEDEVAC.

## Abstract

This paper evaluates the role of federated satellite systems (FSSs) in enhancing unmanned vehicle-supported military medical evacuation (MEDEVAC) missions. An FSS integrates multiple satellite systems, thus improving imaging and communication capabilities compared with standalone satellite systems. A simulation model is developed for a MEDEVAC mission where the FSS control of an unmanned aerial vehicle is distributed across different countries. The model is utilized in a simulation experiment in which the capabilities of the federated and standalone systems in MEDEVAC are compared. The performance of these systems is evaluated by using the most meaningful metrics, i.e., mission duration and data latency, for evacuation to enable life-saving procedures. The simulation results indicate that the FSS, using low-Earth-orbit constellations, outperforms standalone satellite systems. The use of the FSS leads to faster response times for urgent evacuations and low latency for the real-time control of unmanned vehicles, enabling advanced remote medical procedures. These findings suggest that investing in hybrid satellite architectures and fostering international collaboration promote scalability, interoperability, and frequent-imaging opportunities. Such features of satellite systems are vital to enhancing unmanned vehicle-supported MEDEVAC missions in combat zones.