The U.S. Navy’s Boeing [NYSE:BA]-built UHF Follow-On (UFO) F11 satellite has arrived at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., where it will undergo final preparations for its December launch aboard an Atlas rocket.
The Boeing 601 satellite is the 11th UFO spacecraft to be built in El Segundo, Calif., and delivered by Boeing Satellite Systems for the Navy’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego.
“The UHF mobile service is the backbone of military communications today, supporting warfighters on land, at sea and in the air,” said Dave Ryan, vice president and general manager of Boeing Satellite Systems. “We’re proud of the enhancements in this 11th spacecraft, and confident that it is ready to provide additional communications capacity for our nation’s armed forces.”
UFO F11 carries a new ultra-high frequency (UHF) digital receiver that will provide additional UHF channels and greater flexibility in configuring communication services. The spacecraft’s extremely high frequency communications subsystem will provide enhanced antijam telemetry, command, broadcast, and fleet interconnectivity communications, using advanced signal processing techniques.
Boeing has delivered 10 UFO spacecraft under a contract originally awarded in July 1988 and now totaling approximately $2.1 billion. The launch of UFO F11 will mark the culmination of a successful 15-year program at BSS, and comes as the company also marks the 40th anniversary of the Boeing-built Syncom, the world’s first geosynchronous communications satellite. Since that first success, BSS has delivered nearly 210 spacecraft, using technology and capabilities that will be critical to future communi
cations networks serving government and commercial users.
A unit of The Boeing Company, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is one of the world’s largest space and defense businesses. Headquartered in St. Louis, Boeing Integrated Defense Systems is a $25 billion business. It provides systems solutions to its global military, government and commercial customers. It is a leading provider of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; the world’s largest military aircraft manufacturer; the world’s largest satellite manufacturer and a leading provider of space-based communications; the primary systems integrator for U.S. missile defense; NASA’s largest contractor; and a global leader in launch services.
