Despite the Pentagon moving forward with its next-generation of narrowband tactical satellites, Boeing [BA] still sees future opportunity in the legacy Ultra High Frequency Follow-on satellite market, according to a company executive.
“The remainder of the Allies and others still are using a lot of the heritage UHF,” Jim Simpson, Boeing vice president for space and intelligence systems, told reporters yesterday in Arlington, Va. “Based on our analysis, there seems to be a rather insatiable requirement for UHF that could be supplemented by having additional UHF capability.”
Simpson cited the Defense Department and Australian Defence Force sharing hosted payload space on the commercial satellite Intelsat 22 as an example of the demand for legacy UHF Follow-on capability. Intelsat 22, a 702MP (medium power) satellite produced by Boeing, was launched March 25.
DoD is replacing UHF Follow-on, a Navy program, with the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), boasting a 10 times greater communications capacity than its predecessor, according to MUOS prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT]. MUOS is to provide mobile warfighters with point-to-point and netted communications services at enhanced data rates, according to the company (Defense Daily, Feb. 27).
Intelsat 22 is the first of a series of satellites being produced by Boeing for Intelsat. Other 702MP satellites currently under construction by Boeing for Intelsat are Intelsat 21, scheduled to launch in July, and Intelsat 27, scheduled to be completed this year for launch in 2013, according to a Boeing spokeswoman. Intelsat 27 will carry a UHF hosted payload and offer 20 25-KHz UHF channels capable of serving the United States government and other Intelsat clients (Defense Daily, March 29).