Joint Project 2008—sounds intriguing, and it certainly is… for this is a new acquisition plan by the Australian government that will find the “down under” military joining with the U.S. military’s new satellite system. For their share of the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) system, the Australian cabinet has earmarked $2 billion, according to an article in The Australian online news site, bylined by Mark Dodd.
The merge into WGS was the preferred option, rather than build of an Australian-owned military communications satellite. As many as six new Boeing-built satellites will be accessible to Australia, with the first such satellite expected to launch aboard an Atlas V rocket very soon. Boeing’s model 702 commercial satellite is the base for the WGS program, and WGS-1 will provide the US Department of Defense with its highest-capacity communications satellite. Later this year, a second satellite should launch, followed by a third in 2008. There is also the possibility of the Australian government participating in another nextgen US military space vehicle down the line, the T-Sat satellite.
No longer will Australian defense communications be dependent on the Singtel/Optus C1 satellite that is partially owned by the government of Singapore. This should negate some Australian fears of compromise of their national security after Singtel acquired Optus. Additionally, bandwidth acquisition on Singtel/Optus C1 was becoming problematic for the Australian Defense Force—Canberra, Australia—August 30, 2007
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