The U.S. Space Force and Northrop Grumman [NOC] are highlighting recent developments in the service’s effort to launch two Enhanced Polar System-Recapitalization (EPS-R) payloads next year to improve military communications over the North Pole.
The EPS-R payloads are to launch aboard two Norwegian Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission (ASBM) satellites–launches that Space Force has said will save the service more than $900 million and field advanced polar satellite communications three years ahead of a traditional acquisition program.
In March, Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) said that Northrop Grumman had delivered the control and planning segment (CAPS) for EPS and EPS-R.
The new CAPS ground segment provides the software baseline for EPS and EPS-R. SSC has said that CAPS “is an innovative approach streamlining mission operations while reducing long-term costs of software and hardware sustainment for the ground segment” and that EPS-R “will extend the polar capability provided by EPS until the fielding of the next-generation Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) system expected to launch in the early 2030s.”
On Aug. 7, Northrop Grumman said that it has “started the next phase of pre-launch preparations” after the delivery of CAPS, the “on-time delivery of both” EPS-R payloads to Space Force, and the “integration of the EPS-R payload and successful completion of thermal vacuum environmental testing on the first space vehicle.”
On Aug. 2, SSC said that it had completed with Space Norway the “Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) test” of the first EPS-R payload. On Aug. 16, SSC said that the TVAC test of the second EPS-R payload is to start this month.
2nd Lt. Clayton Lieberman, SSC EPS-R payload integration and test officer and Space Norway liaison Officer, said in the SSC statement that the TVAC chamber testing simulated “the extreme temperature changes the hardware will experience as it is continuously exposed to and shaded from solar energy while in the vacuum of space.”
In December, 2021 SSC said that it expected a dual EPS-R launch early this year.
“Delivery of the [ASBM] satellites is delayed due to a number of factors, including supply chain disruption from COVID, design complexities changing our GEOStar platform to perform in a HEO (Highly Elliptical Orbit), and the complexities of integrating three separate customer payloads,” Northrop Grumman said in an email response to questions on Aug. 7.
In addition to EPS-R, the ASBM satellites are to carry an X-band payload for the Norwegian Ministry of Defense, a Ka-band payload for Inmarsat, and the Norwegian Radiation Monitor payload for the European Commission, the company said.