[Satellite TODAY Insider 12-23-11] Satellite manufacturer Boeing has secured a $296 million contract option to produce the Wideband Global Satellite (WGS)-8, the eighth in a series of military communications satellites for the U.S. Air Force, the Pentagon confirmed Dec. 22.

   The contract option brings the total cost of WGS-8 to $354 million. The total includes long-lead parts that were ordered in August for $58 million in addition to the latest $296 million authorization to proceed with full construction, launch and on-orbit activation. The Air Force purchase comes as part of the WGS Block 2 follow-on contract, which covers options for WGS-7, WGS-8 and WGS-9. Boeing will construct the satellites at its El Segundo, Calif. facility.

   The first three WGS satellites, also built by Boeing, are already in GEO orbit and operational. WGS-4 is currently in preparation at Cape Canaveral for launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket on Jan. 19. The WGS Block 2 series aims to add performance upgrades to the Pentagon network, such as a switchable radio frequency bypass for the transmission of airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance imagery at higher data rates. “New airborne surveillance platforms are driving a need for higher data rates, and the upgrades on WGS-4 are designed specifically to meet these emerging requirements,” Boeing Space & Intelligence Systems Vice President and General Manager Craig Cooning said in a statement.

   The U.S. Department of Defense and Boeing have been working to streamline future WGS spacecraft to reduce testing costs and lower the overall prices by 12 percent to 15 percent through a commercial operating model. The Air Force said it is saving more than $100 million in the new program ordering strategy.

   The WGS system replaces the aging Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) spacecraft, each with 10 times the capacity of a DSCS satellite. The first six WGS satellites are scheduled to be operational by summer 2013. The subsequent spacecraft will follow approximately two to three years later.

   WGS satellites operate simultaneously in X- and Ka-band frequencies and were designed to provide cross banding to various user terminals in combat. The Air Force said the system currently collects and routes real-time data through more than 3,100 Ka-band, 700 X-band and 400 X/Ka-band terminals in all theaters of operation.