By Marina Malenic
The Air Force’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Aug. 4, officials said.
The 45th Space Wing completed the mission. The Atlas V launch vehicle left the launch pad at 7:07 a.m., according to the Air Force.
“The AEHF satellite will provide secure, protected communications capability across the spectrum of mission areas, including land, sea and air warfare,” Air Force Under Secretary Erin Conaton said in a press statement. “Its benefits will be felt in special operations, strategic nuclear deterrence, strategic defense, theater missile defense, and space operations and intelligence.”
AEHF is designed to provide the Pentagon and other government officials with protected, high capacity, high-speed communications. It is the successor to Milstar.
“It’s the FedEx of military communications,” said Col. William Harding, vice commander of the Military Satellite Communications System Wing at the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles. “If the signal has to get through, this is the satellite that you’ll use.”
The AEHF-1 spacecraft will take several months to settle into orbit and will then undergo rigorous testing before being shifted to an operational location, officials said.
The satellite joins five that make up the Milstar constellation and will provide more communications capacity than all five of those vehicles combined, according to Air Force officials. The AEHF constellation of at least four satellites is eventually expected to provide 10 times the total Milstar capacity, as well as data rates at least five times faster.
Prime contractor Lockheed Martin [LMT] has built three AEHF satellites and is awaiting a contract for a fourth later this year. The second satellite is expected to launch early next year, followed by the third in early 2012.
Canada, Netherlands and the United Kingdom have participated in the development effort and will receive new capability once AEHF-1 is online, Air Force officials have said.