TheWideband Global SATCOM system (WGS) is a high capacityUnited States Space Forcesatellite communications system planned for use in partnership by the United StatesDepartment of Defense (DoD), CanadianDepartment of National Defence (DND) and the AustralianDepartment of Defence.[1] The system is composed of theSpace Segment satellites, theTerminal Segment users and theControl Segment operators.[2]
DoDwideband satellite communication services are currently provided by a combination of the existingDefense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) andGlobal Broadcast Service (GBS) satellites.[3] According toUnited Launch Alliance, quoted onSpaceflight Now, "A single WGS spacecraft has as much bandwidth as the entire existing DSCS constellation."[4] WGS operations are currently run by the4th Space Operations Squadron, out ofSchriever Space Force Base, as well as the53rd Space Operations Squadron.
The constellation of WGS satellites increases the communications capabilities of the militaries of the United States, Canada, and Australia by providing additional bandwidth and communications capabilities for tactical command and control,communications, andcomputers;intelligence,surveillance, andreconnaissance (C4ISR); battle management; and combat support information. Canada has also signed on to become a partner.[5]
WGS also augments the currentKa-band Global Broadcast Service (on UHF F/O satellites) by providing additional information broadcast capabilities as well as providing new two-way capability on that band. It provides services to the US DoD and Australian Department of Defence. The IWS System supports continuous 24-hour-per-day wideband satellite services to tactical users and some fixed infrastructure users. Limited protected services will be provided under conditions of stress to selected users employing terrestrialmodems capable of providing protection againstjamming.
The WGS satellites will complement theDSCS III Service Life Enhancement Program (SLEP) and GBS payloads and will offset the eventual decline in DSCS III capability. WGS will offer 4.875 GHz of instantaneous switchable bandwidth, thus each WGS can supply more than 10 times the capacity of a DSCS III Service Life Enhancement Program (SLEP) satellite. Once the full constellation of 6 WGS satellites is operational, they will replace the DSCS system. WGS-1 with its 2.4 Gbit/swideband capacity, provided greater capability and bandwidth than all the DSCS satellites combined.[6]
Operation and usage of the system is broken into 3 segments.
The end users of the communication services provided by the WGS are described by the DoD as the terminal segment. Users include theAustralian Defence Force andU.S. Army ground mobile terminals,U.S. Navy ships andsubmarines, national command authorities for the nuclear forces, and various national security/allied national forces. Additionally, theSatellite Control Network will also use the WGS in a similar manner as theDSCS III constellation is used to route ATM packets through theDefense Information Systems Agency (DISA) "cloud" to establish command and control streams with various satellite constellations. One of the emerging applications is SATCOM-ON-The-Move which is now being extensively used on the military tactical vehicles for Blue Force Tracking and C3 missions.
The satellite operators in charge of commanding and monitoring the satellite's bus and payload systems as well as managing the network operating over the satellite are the control segment. Like the DSCS constellation that WGS will replace, spacecraft bus is commanded by the4th Space Operations Squadron ofSchriever Space Force Base,Colorado. Payload commanding and network control is handled by theArmy 53rd Signal Battalion headquartered at nearbyPeterson Space Force Base, Colorado with subordinate elements A Company atFort Detrick,Maryland, B Company atFort Meade, Maryland, C Company atLandstuhl, Germany, D Company atWahiawa, Hawaii, and E Company atFort Buckner,Okinawa, Japan.
The primary contractor for the satellites themselves isBoeing Satellite Development Center, which is building them around theBoeing 702HPsatellite bus. Originally five satellites were planned. On 3 October 2007,Australia's Department of Defence announced that the country would fund a sixth satellite in the constellation.[7] Once in their orbits at an altitude of 35,900 km (22,300 mi), each will weigh approximately 3,400 kg (7,500 lb). The program intends to use both theDelta IV and theAtlas V aslaunch vehicles. TheAir Force Space Command estimates each satellite will cost approximately US$300 million.
The first three WGS satellites form Block I of the space segment. The next three, WGS satellites 4, 5, and 6, make up Block II.[8] The next four, WGS-7, -8, -9, and -10, make up Block II Follow-On.
The first launch ofWGS-1 was conducted byUnited Launch Alliance (ULA) on 11 October 2007, at 00:22UTC. The satellite was carried by anAtlas V 421 launch vehicle lifting off fromSLC-41 atCape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS). After launch, the WGS-1 satellite was given the U.S. military designationUSA-195. Its coverage area stretches from theWest Coast of the United States toSoutheast Asia.[9]
The launch of the second satellite,WGS-2 (USA-204), was also conducted by ULA, on 4 April 2009 at 01:31:00 UTC, using an Atlas V 421 launch vehicle. The WGS-2 satellite was positioned over the equator around 60° Eastlongitude (over theIndian Ocean) for use byUnited States Central Command inAfghanistan,Iraq and other parts ofSouthwest Asia.[9][10] Originally, the second spacecraft was to fly on theDelta IV M+ (5,4), and the third on the Atlas V 421, but they were switched for an undisclosed reason.[11]
WGS-3 (USA-211) was launched on 6 December 2009, at 01:47:00 UTC, covers theAtlantic Ocean. The satellite was launched by a Delta IV M+ (5,4) launch vehicle, originally an Atlas V 421 but replaced with WGS-2.
WGS-4 (USA-233), the first satellite of the Block II, was launched byUnited Launch Alliance (ULA) fromSLC-37B at theCape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS) by aDelta IV M+ (5,4) on 20 January 2012, at 00:38:00 UTC.[12]
WGS-5 (USA-243) was successfully launched by a Delta IV launch vehicle flying in the Medium+ (5,4) configuration, with lift-off taking place from SLC-37B in Florida on 25 May 2013, at 00:27 UTC.[13]
WGS-6 (USA-244) was launched on aDelta IV launch vehicle on 8 August 2013, at 00:29 UTC fromCape Canaveral Air Force Station (CCAFS).[14]
On 23 August 2010, Boeing was awarded an Air Force contract worth US$182 million to begin work on the seventh WGS satellite. The new satellite was procured under the WGS Block II Follow-On contract which included options for production of up to six WGS satellites.[8]
WGS-7 (USA-263) was successfully launched by a Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) launch vehicle, with lift-off taking place fromSpace Launch Complex 37B (SLC-37B) in Florida on 24 July 2015, at 00:57 UTC.[15]
WGS-8 (USA-272) was successfully launched by a Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) launch vehicle on 7 December 2016 at 23:52 UTC from SLC-37B at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The Delta IV's Delta Cryogenic Second Stage deployed the satellite as planned on 8 December 2016, at 00:35 UTC.[16][17]
WGS-9 (USA-275) was launched on 19 March 2017, at 00:18:00 UTC. It was launched on a Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) launch vehicle. The satellite was partially-funded by allied nations, including Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands,Luxembourg, New Zealand and the United States, for military access to the entire WGS constellation.[18]
WGS-10 (USA-291) was launched atop a Delta IV Medium+ (5,4) launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on 16 March 2019, at 02:26 UTC.[19] WGS-10 is the latest part of a constellation of highly-capable communications satellites that serve the armed forces of the United States and its allies. It carriesKa-band andX-bandtransponders with 8.088gigahertz of bandwidth.
WGS-11 In 2019, Boeing received a contract to build an 11th WGS satellite. WGS-11 is to be completed by Boeing by 2024 under a US$605 million contract.[20][21]
WGS-12 In 2024, Boeing announced it had a $439.6 million contract to build an additional satellite, WGS-12; which will launch on a Falcon Heavy as USSF-205.[22][23]
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