The third Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) military communications satellite, WGS-3, has entered service for the U.S. Air Force, completing the military’s Block 1 constellation, designed to deliver improved broadband communications to U.S. military forces and their allies around the world.
   The WGS-3 satellite, built by Boeing and located over the Atlantic Ocean, joins the first two WGS satellites operating over the Pacific Ocean and Middle East to provide high-data-rate communications links to support delivery of everything from full-motion video captured by unmanned aerial vehicles to e-mail, television and other quality-of-life services for U.S. warfighters overseas.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems’ Bob Pickard told Satellite News that the successful launch and operation of WGS-3 provides a stepping stone to the company’s work on the Air Force’s Block 2 constellations, which it is also under contract to build. “This is a satellite program that continues to deliver positive results and significant value to the warfighter. Boeing is progressing well in building the 3 Block 2 satellites and is working with the Air Force on a follow-on series with up to six more satellites.”
    Boeing acquired the first on-orbit signals from the WGS-3 spacecraft in December. The satellite was launched on a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket. Its X- and Ka-band payload has the capacity to transmit information at rates of more than three gigabits per second – more than 10 times the capacity of the government’s Defense Satellite Communications legacy system. During operational testing in 2009, the government successfully transmitted a record-breaking 440 megabits-per-second communications test signal through a WGS satellite.
    Air Force Col. Don Robbins, the WGS satcom group commander said the WGS is providing crucial benefits for military operations. “This milestone means that our warfighters around the world, even deep in the mountains or far out at sea, can now reap the benefits of high-capacity communications. WGS delivers the information they need to make quicker decisions, which is a key enabler of mission success. This is a system that saves warfighters’ lives and makes their lives better.”
   “New airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms require increased bandwidth, and we’re enhancing the Block 2 WGS satellites to deliver that critical capability. WGS is proving to be a cost-effective solution that delivers results for warfighters today and can be evolved to meet the military’s future communications needs,” Boeing Vice President of Navigation and Communications Systems Ken Torok said in a statement.
    Under its current Block 2 contract with the Air Force, three more WGS satellites that are scheduled for launch in 2012 and 2013. Boeing received a $299.8 million contract from the Air Force for production of the fourth WGS satellite in November 2006. The entire Block 2 contract is worth $1.1 billion. WGS-4 will be similar to the three Block 1 satellites Boeing manufactured, but will add a radio frequency bypass capability designed to support airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms requiring additional bandwidth.