The Air Force’s tenth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite has been placed aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket to be launched next month, ULA said Feb. 27.
The military communications satellite was hoisted aboard the rocket Tuesday, the alliance said in a Wednesday release. ULA is a joint launch venture between Boeing [BA] and Lockheed Martin [LMT]. The Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center (AFSMC) said Wednesday that the launch is currently scheduled for March 13 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
A tip-to-tail electrical test of the combined payload and launch vehicle will occur later this week as part of the Integrated Systems Test, ULA said. Once completed, a comprehensive review process to verify flight readiness will begin in parallel to final vehicle closeouts for the targeted launch.
Boeing is on contract to deliver 10 satellites to the Air Force as part of the WGS constellation, which provides connectivity to the U.S. military and its allied partners via high-capacity communications satellites in geosynchronous orbit. The first WGS satellite was launched in October 2007 on a ULA rocket. The WGS-10 satellite was completed in September 2018, per a Boeing spokesperson.