The Boeing Co. [BA] reconfigured an on-orbit Navy satellite, adding 30 percent more communications capability.

The satellite, the 11th in the Ultra-High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) series built by Boeing, was launched in 2003 and supports the Navy global communications network, serving ships at sea and a variety of other military fixed and mobile terminals.

UFO 11 has the most sophisticated digital signal processor in the constellation. Its ability to reprogram existing user channels allowed Boeing to exploit small, unused portions of the allocated radio frequency spectrum to add 10 channels, for a total of 54.

"Given the extremely high demand for tactical communications in Southwest Asia, our Navy customer asked us to investigate ways to maximize the current capabilities of the UFO 11 spacecraft," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "After a series of careful analyses and rigorous testing, we found a way to achieve this goal at no additional cost to the customer."

"The military’s need for communications bandwidth continues to rise," Cooning added.