First Responders
Ground Control ensure you ahieve more successful mission outcomes and improve the safety of your team on the ground, with critical voice, data and video over satellite-enabled networks.
Utilizing systems compliant with all SAFECOM requirements for emergency interoperable communication equipment, Ground Control enables your teams to focus on the task at hand – saving lives.
How Satellite-Enabled Solutions Help Mitigate Risk to Emergency Personnel
Deliver Situational Awareness
In a crisis, delayed or missing situational awareness can cost lives. Satellite connectivity reduces the risk by delivering real-time intelligence to emergency teams on the ground through secure satellite-enabled internet access points. This connectivity ensures continuous, reliable communication even when terrestrial networks are damaged or unavailable.
Improve Emergency Response Coordination
Satellite connectivity keeps emergency teams linked even when local networks are down, ensuring continuous communication in any situation. It enables real-time sharing of critical data, such as location, weather updates, and hazard alerts, improving situational awareness. By providing interoperable, reliable links across teams and agencies, satellite networks help coordinate faster, more effective emergency response.
Keep Personnel on the Ground Safe
Keep emergency crews and personnel safe with satellite-connected, handheld devices that provide real-time location tracking and status updates. Two-way messaging enables rapid alerts for hazards, health emergencies, or environmental dangers, ensuring responders can act immediately. By ensuring communication even in disaster-affected areas, satellite connectivity helps protect lives.
Enable Unmanned Drone Deployment
Satellite connectivity allows teams to operate emergency drones and access near real-time video to support public safety, medical response, and detect emerging threats such as wildfires and floods. Leveraging the extended coverage of drones, this data accelerates decision-making and helps protect the lives of emergency responders.
Recommended Devices
Early Warning Systems
Satellite transceivers like the RockBLOCK Plus are a great example of how IoT applications can be used to protect lives.
RockBLOCK can be used to monitor specific warning indicators including water levels and humidity. When paired with a sophisticated monitoring system, the RockBLOCK can also trigger an alarm if and when warning indicator data exceeds appropriate parameters, ensuring safe evacuation of those in danger zones.
Handheld Devices
RockSTAR and RockSTAR Burst are powerful satellite communication tools that give first responders reliable, real time connectivity even in remote or disaster-affected areas. RockSTAR provides GPS tracking, two way messaging, and emergency alert capabilities, ensuring teams can coordinate missions and stay connected when lives are on the line.
RockSTAR Burst complements this by enabling the rapid transmission of short, critical data packets from multiple units to command centers, supporting efficient situational awareness and resource deployment. Together, they enhance safety, improve response times, and ensure responders can operate with confidence in any environment.
Tracking Devices
The Iridium Edge Solar, GSAT Solar, and SmartOne C are rugged satellite IoT devices that provide first responders with dependable tracking and communication capabilities in the field. Powered by solar energy, the Iridium Edge Solar and GSAT Solar offer long lasting, low maintenance operation, making them ideal for deployments in remote or disaster-affected areas where power infrastructure may be unavailable.
These devices enable real time location tracking, asset monitoring, and status updates, ensuring that command centers always have visibility of personnel and equipment. The SmartOne C adds versatility with configurable messaging and alert options, giving teams the ability to tailor communications to mission needs.
Satellite Internet Solutions
Ground Control provides rugged satellite internet solutions for first responders operating beyond reliable terrestrial coverage. Viasat Go-Anywhere Pro and Iridium Certus 700 hardware deliver dependable broadband connectivity for field teams, supporting essential communications, situational awareness and access to cloud-based tools in remote or disrupted environments.
Built for demanding deployments and proven on established global satellite networks, these systems offer a resilient communications option when local infrastructure is unavailable or compromised. Their portable, rugged design makes them suitable for emergency response, disaster recovery and temporary command operations where reliable connectivity is critical.
FAQs About Satellite IoT for First Responders
Yes, Ground Control offers an API-first management and data platform (Cloudloop), which enables integration of device telemetry into existing systems, dashboards, GIS, or command-and-control software. On the device and firmware level, we support common communication protocols (e.g. MQTT, message-based protocols) and can act as gateways to reformat or buffer data.
Under extreme weather events, including hurricanes, wildfires, floods, satellite connectivity systems from Ground Control will offer much greater reliability compared to terrestrial options, cellular towers or fiber, which are prone to damage or power failure. Our satellite devices are rugged and IP-rated, capable of surviving extreme temperatures, water submersion and deployment in harsh conditions.
The Rock series devices, including the RockSTAR, operate on the Iridium L-band satellite network, which is known for its exceptional resilience and reliability in all weather conditions. Unlike higher frequency bands such as Ka- or Ku-band, L-band signals are largely unaffected by rain, snow, or atmospheric interference, ensuring consistent communication when it’s needed most.
The Toughsat XP VSAT antenna is also specifically robust – even under high winds, flood, and fire-affected areas. It is built to be portable, deployable, and to provide broadband in disaster scenarios when conventional networks have failed.
In emergency response, timing is critical. Our satellite-enabled communication solutions have been designed for quick setup with minimal training:
Handheld devices, such as the RockSTAR, can be operational within seconds to a few minutes and portable terminals, including the MCD-4800 and Toughsat Flyaway, can be set up and ready in approximately 10 to 15 minutes with minimal effort.
Yes. Our solutions support multi-agency coordination by enabling interoperable communication across local, state, and federal agencies. They facilitate seamless collaboration among fire, police, EMS, and other disaster response units, as well as NGOs and private emergency support contractors.
Satellite Solutions for Enhanced First Response
With over 20 years of experience facilitating emergency preparedness and response across the globe, we understand that in a crisis, every second counts. We’re constantly evolving and adapting our Public Safety offer and systems to best support teams on the ground. This is just part of the reason Ground Control has been a trusted name in Emergency Responder satcom since 2002.
Whatever your communication or connectivity needs, we can help.