WGS-3 completes the initial constellation of three spacecraft, which will provide broadband communications to every theater of operation around the world. Boeing is building three more WGS satellites under Block II of its contract with the Air Force. The Block II satellites will include performance boosters such as a radio frequency bypass designed to support airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms requiring additional bandwidth.
WGS-3 was launched on December 5, 2009, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., aboard a Delta IV rocket. On-orbit testing demonstrated the functionality of WGS-3’s communications payload features by passing test signals through each of the satellite’s 19 antenna beams. These tests also verified WGS-3’s beam-steering functions. Boeing employees conducted the tests at the company’s Mission Control Center in El Segundo, with support from Air Force and Army personnel at the center and at government facilities in central California. Air Force operations personnel at Schriever Air Force Base in Colorado are conducting additional tests and moving WGS-3 into its operational position over the Atlantic Ocean. The satellite is expected to become operational this spring. WGS-1 and WGS-2 are operating over the Pacific Ocean and the Middle East, respectively. WGS-4, -5 and -6 will be ready for launch in 2011 and 2012.
