LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, El Segundo, Calif. – The U.S. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center has awarded a contract to Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation – Information Systems in Redondo Beach, Calif. for the MILSATCOM Systems Directorate’s design and development of the Enhanced Polar System’s Control and Planning Segment (CAPS).
The CAPS award is the result of a full and open competition. This cost-plus-incentive-fee contract was awarded as a basic contract for all CAPS design work up to and including the segment’s Critical Design Review, with a value of $66.8M and contains options for the development and delivery of the segment as well as the procurement of spares that could be worth a total of $148.3M.
SMC’s MILSATCOM Systems Directorate is acquiring EPS to provide Extremely High Frequency protected satellite communications capability to forces operating in the North Polar Region. The system plays a central role in fulfilling Department of Defense joint-communication capability requirements. The EPS system will provide the capability to carry secure teletype, voice, email, instant messaging, video, multi-media and data communications.
EPS will provide continuous coverage to terminals operating in the polar region and will support secure, jam-resistant, strategic and tactical communications between forces operating above 65 degrees north latitude.
CAPS is the primary means for commanding and receiving telemetry for the two polar-orbiting payloads. CAPS provides execution of essential mission functions such as payload clock management and over-the-air-rekey of user terminals. CAPS will receive spacecraft ephemeris data from the Payload Segment Host Control Segment and use it to generate User Ephemeris Messages that are uplinked to the EPS payload for distribution to the Terminal Segment.
Primary CAPS functionality includes EPS planning and management, in-band EPS payload system control, EPS cryptographic planning, EPS terminal image generation and support for CAPS hardware and software development and testing.
CAPS is planned to be deployed at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., with the telemetry tracking and command terminal and CAPS timing equipment located at the EPS Gateway site at Clear Air Force Station, Alaska.
Media representatives who would like to interview a subject matter expert or learn more about the MILSATCOM Systems should send an e-mail smcpa.media@us.af.mil
