US aerospace and defence giant Boeing has reported that its latest defence communications satellite design, WGS-11+, has passed its first key engineering design review. (WGS stands for Wideband Global Satcom.) This design review was conducted by Boeing and its customer, the US Space Force (USSF). 

As a result, Boeing will now be able to commence the final design phase for the new satellite. The start of production for the spacecraft is scheduled for next year and it is due to be delivered to the USSF in 2024.

“Completing this engineering design review is a key milestone and brings us one step closer to delivering this groundbreaking satellite to the warfighter in record time, significantly improving capacity and coverage to our soldiers, sailors, airmen, marines and allies,” highlighted USSF Space and Missile Systems Centre Production Corps Geosynchronous/Polar Division chief Colonel John Dukes. (The USSF, created out of the US Air Force, is still using air force ranks, while debates and discussions continue about what rank titles it should use – some are advocating that it adopt naval ranks, for example.)

The current ten-satellite WGS constellation is the backbone of America’s global military and civil government communications system. In addition to all the US armed forces, it is used by the White House, the US State Department and a number of US allies. 

The new WGS-11+ has a modern digital payload, which gives it an operational capability 100% greater than that of its predecessors. This increases its military-grade communications capacity. The satellite has benefitted from commercial technological advances made by Boeing. 

“WGS-11+ uses narrower spot beams to deliver a stronger, more reliable connection exactly where it’s needed, which means better performance and greater flexibility than ever before,” explained Boeing Government Satellite Systems VP Troy Dawson. The satellite will also support global communications for a number of US partner countries, including Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand and Norway.