[Satellite TODAY 08-13-10] The U.S. Air Force‘s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite will be launched Aug. 14 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Fla., the Air Force confirmed Aug. 12.
    The AEHF satellite, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin-led team, aims to provide survivable, protected, assured, communications to the U.S. government, warfighters and international partners, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands. 
    AEHF will augment the military’s five-satellite Milstar constellation, providing 10 times greater total capacity and offer channel data rates six times higher than that of Milstar 2 satellites.
    “AEHF represents a new era of global protected communications that will provide significantly improved, assured connectivity to a greater number of warfighters. The team has executed a smooth and efficient transition to the launch pad and we look forward to achieving mission success for our customer,” Lockheed Martin Vice President Mike Davis said in a statement.