The US Space Force has awarded Boeing a $440-million contract to build its 12th satellite for the Wideband Global Satellite Communications (WGS) constellation.
Boeing’s WGS-12 will bolster the US military’s communication network by adding further high-capacity, secure, and resilient capabilities onto the existing network.
The company will implement its Protected Tactical Satcom Prototype payload onto the new satellite as an anti-jam feature, allowing it to operate in contested theaters.
It will communicate via the Protected Tactical Enterprise Service ground system, which serves as a nexus for the Space Forces’ major space capabilities.
Boeing Space Mission Systems vice president Michelle Parker shared that the WGS-12 will ensure resilient communications by using over 1,500 individually steerable, shapeable beams in the system’s Ka band.
“We are proud to be a mission partner and are ready to continue providing protected tactical communications to the warfighter,” she added.
Work for the satellite will be performed in El Segundo, California, and is expected to be completed by 2029.
US Satellite Network
The WGS System serves as the backbone of the US military for worldwide high-capacity communications for various government agencies and entities, including the Department of Defense and NATO.
First launched in 2007, the constellation is currently in its follow-on phase for the second block of launches.
Its space, control, and terminal segments consist of units ranging from Space Delta 8’s squadrons to thousands of tactical SATCOM fixed, transportable, ground- and air-mobile, and ship-based SATCOM terminals.
