Boeing Completes
First Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite and Prepares Spacecraft for
Shipment
(18 June 2007) The Boeing Company has
completed integration and test of the U.S. Air Force's first Wideband Global
SATCOM (WGS) satellite, bringing unprecedented satellite communications
services one step closer to the warfighter.
"One WGS satellite
will provide more communications capacity than the entire Defense Satellite
Communication System constellation that's currently on orbit," said Howard
Chambers, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence
Systems. "The spacecraft will be a game-changer for the U.S. government and
will revolutionise wideband SATCOM capabilities for the warfighter."
The
performance of the first WGS satellite during testing has been excellent, and
factory data suggests it will provide approximately 25 percent more
communications capacity by the end of its 14-year mission life as a result of
high performance margins within the communications payload.
Boeing is
under contract for five WGS Block I and II spacecraft, with an option for a
sixth. The first satellite has completed factory testing and rigorous mission
assurance reviews, and is ready to ship to the launch site in Florida, where it
will be launched on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket this August. The
spacecraft will be placed into an environmentally-controlled container and
transported to Cape Canaveral Air Station in an Air Force C-5
aircraft.
WGS will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite
Communication System and the important Global Broadcast Service function
currently provided by UHF Follow-On satellites. It also will reduce the
government's reliance on commercial SATCOM services. WGS can operate at both
X-band and Ka-band frequencies, and provide many important operational features
that are not available from any other SATCOM system. For example, WGS has 18
reconfigurable coverage areas, the ability to broadcast or multicast
transmissions into the various coverage areas, and connect users between any
and all coverage areas, even when operating on different frequency
bands.
Boeing has leveraged a wealth of experience and capability for
WGS, including extensive investments in the 702 satellite platform, digital
signal processors and phased array antennas. The second and third Block I
satellites are progressing through factory testing and are expected to be
launched in 2008.
Boeing also has been commissioned to build two WGS
Block II satellites, WGS-4 and WGS-5. They will be similar to the first three
Block I satellites, but will include a radio frequency bypass capability
designed to support airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
platforms requiring additional bandwidth. The RF bypass will support data rates
of up to 311 megabits per second. The WGS satellites are all Boeing 702 models
with13-kilowatts of power each. WGS-4 is expected to launch in early
2011.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is
one of the world's largest space and defence businesses specialising in
innovative and capabilities-driven customer solutions. Headquartered in St.
Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a US$ 32.4 billion business with
72,000 employees world-wide.
(source: Boeing)