[Satellite News 10-22-09] Military satellite communications manufacturers used Milcom 2009 as a forum to demonstrate a variety of next-generation solutions and address the challenges of a budget-conscious and bandwidth-hungry Pentagon.
    Ken Torok, vice president of navigation and communication systems at Boeing, showcased Oct. 19 the company’s latest developments for the Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) system, which has taken on the role filling the void left by the cancellation of the Transformational Communications Satellite (TSAT) program in April.
    "While WGS cannot act as a complete substitute for the abilities that TSAT would have provided, the system is well-positioned to meet and exceed the needs of today’s military satcom needs," Torok told Satellite News. "It’s anti-jamming abilities, security and capability to handle advanced coms-on-the-move applications are exceeding expectations. The system also provides lower financial risk and is equipped to incrementally add capabilities in the future."
    Boeing’s WGS timetable aims to provide the military with robust, overlapping coverage to handle high-demand applications such as the increasing use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the battlefield to point-to-point and multi-point X- and Ka- crossbanding. The WGS-3 spacecraft, the final satellite in Boeing’s WGS block 1 program, is set to launch in November.
   "WGS-3 is meeting or exceeding all of its requirements. As we speak, the satellite is fueling at Cape Canaveral. Our success with Block 1 has kept us on contract for Block 2," said Torok.
   The Block 2 program schedule will see three Boeing satellites launched by the 2012. The WGS-4, WGS-5 and WGS-6 satellites are in production and are scheduled to launch in the second and fourth quarter of 2011 and fourth quarter of 2012, respectively.
   "The Block 2 satellites will have an RF bypass feature to support the U.S. Military Global Hawk program at speeds of 274 [megabits per second]. We are also evaluating evolutionary upgrades for future WGS applications. We have reason to be confident in this program. Both WGS-1 and WGS-2, which are on-orbit, are demonstrating excellent performance. The result is that we’re working closer than ever with the [U.S. Air Force] on future WGS procurement plans," said Torok. 
    While Boeing has been focused on leveraging military satcom alternatives, its long-time competitor, Lockheed Martin, has been working to recover the ground it lost from the TSAT cancellation and its ground segment program, TMOS, which it has already won contracts to develop. The company, unlike Boeing, who lost $1.69 billion its latest financial period, is coming off a strong third quarter, driven by growth in its satellite and space transportation businesses that offset its military and defense systems losses.
    "With a strong overall performance record in our Space Systems business, we look forward to participating in the next generation satellite communications system and we’ve been making excellent progress on the related ground station program already awarded to us," said Lockheed Martin COO Bob Stevens. "With [TSAT’s] cancellation and a termination for convenience, work has stopped. A similar case surrounds the termination of the Multiple Kill Vehicle, or MKV system. These customer actions have resulted in a loss of revenue and profitability that cannot be made up in the near term."
    Stevens hinted that the global economy has forced the Obama administration to make decisions that have impacted Lockheed Martin’s military satcom standing. "I think that it would be fair to say not only we at Lockheed Martin, but probably all the companies in the industry, recognizing two factors the change in administration and the demands in the global security environment, then separately the changes where I’ll see it in the global economic environment how those economics are affecting domestic policy. We expected to see the change in priority. We just didn’t know exactly where it would fall and how it would roll through our backlog and our future horizon," he said.
   Despite the loss, Lockheed Martin’s future projections are positive, yet cautious. The company expects consistent growth through 2012, driven by success in other space and military programs. "Operational success was also achieved for our international customers this quarter through the successful delivery and deployment of the JCSat-12 satellite for commercial communications provider in Japan. … We were pleased that the Government Accountability Office dismissed a competitor’s protest of our GOES-R satellite system award received earlier this year from NASA. This resolution allows our team to move forward with work on this program to construct two satellites with options for two more spacecraft," said Lockheed Martin CFO Bruce Tanner.
   Lockheed Martin reported adjusted third quarter net earnings of $797 million, a $15 million increase from the same period in 2008. The results of the third quarter bring the company’s total year-to-date net earnings to $2.2 billion.