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USAF Launches Satellite To Enhance Military Communications

The U.S. Air Force successfully launched a new-generation military communications satellite from here at 8:47 p.m. (EST), when a Delta IV rocket carried a Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) into space.
WGS satellites are designed to provide high-capacity communications to U.S. military forces. They will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communication System that has been the Department of Defense’s backbone for satellite communications over the last two decades.

This mission marked the third flight of a Delta IV rocket this year from CCAFS, a record for one year. It also was the second launch of a WGS this year from here. WGS-2 launched atop an Atlas V rocket here April 3.

First launched in 2007, WGS will be a constellation of five satellites that will supply service for military leaders to command and control their tactical forces.

The French Ministry of Defence renews its satellite telecommunications services

The French Ministry of Defence’s telecommunications operator, DIRISI, awarded the entire ASTEL-S contract to Astrium Services at the end of 2009. Astrium has now become the ministry’s sole supplier in the private sector of fixed satellite services. Eric Béranger, CEO Astrium Services said: “This success confirms the French Ministry of Defence’s keen interest in our portfolio of services and their satisfaction with the quality of what we offer.”

The four-year contract will provide French forces all over the world with civil (Ku-, Ka- and C-band) and military (UHF- and X-band) satellite telecommunications services that complement the Syracuse network. Astrium Services’ subsidiary, the London Satellite Exchange (LSE), will provide a one-stop shop to meet the needs of the French armed forces and ensure 24/7 service. This contract follows on from the first ASTEL-S contract, which was awarded by the French Ministry of Defence in May 2005 and under which Astrium provided satellite capacity in specific bands. The DIRISI assesses the French Ministry of Defence’s need for capacity could be up to 100 MHz frequency range.

Satellite HUB at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar

Sgt. Jeffrey Yauch, from Plover, Wis., adheres to the old Army conviction: leave it better than you found it. During a one-year deployment, the 1st Cavalry Division soldier wrote detailed technical standard operation procedures for tactical satellite hubs employing the military’s latest communications technology.

Yauch’s painstaking labors led to an unprecedented 99-percent satellite reliability rate, according to signal reports at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar. Tactical environment uptimes typically range between 90 and 95 percent, according to Chief Warrant Officer Scott Gray, 1st Cavalry Division Special Troops Battalion network technician chief.

“Our team set a new standard for maintaining a tactical satellite hub,” said Gray, who then commended the entire unit for supporting communication requirements for over 230,000 combat patrols in Iraq this year.

The 1st Cavalry Division, a rapidly deployable armored division based at Fort Hood, Texas, assumed duties as the Multi-National Division – Baghdad headquarters in January. While the main body moved into Iraq, Yauch and 18 other Soldiers formed a tactical satellite hub at Camp As Sayliyah, Qatar, located on the eastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula.

The team of Soldiers inherited a critical mission: set up and maintain a robust satellite hub at the Qatar base. Warfighters throughout Iraq would depend on their signal integrity for a variety of audiovisual services, such as telecommunications, video teleconferences and network access. Unfortunately, specific instructions about fielding the Army’s most recent equipment didn’t exist. Yauch resolved to fix that discrepancy, as the Soldiers went to work.

The tactical satellite document has been disseminated throughout Iraq and Afghanistan.