In the spring of 2013, Lockheed Martin will remove the satellite from storage, perform final spacecraft component installations and conduct a final factory confidence test in Sunnyvale, California, prior to shipping MUOS-2 to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, for its launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.
A nexgen narrowband tactical satellite communications system, MUOS provides significantly improved and secure communications capabilities, including simultaneous voice, video and data, for mobile and remote users. MUOS satellites are equipped with a Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) payload that provides a 16-fold increase in transmission throughput over the current Ultra High Frequency (UHF) satellite system.
Lockheed Martin tailored a previously commercial waveform to be used with the new WCDMA payload. The U.S. government has made the waveform available for military satellite communications terminal providers through the Joint Tactical Networking Center (JTNC) Information Repository, and contractors can now integrate the waveform into their MUOS-compatible terminals to provide WCDMA capabilities for users.
Each MUOS satellite also includes a legacy UHF payload that is fully compatible with the current UHF Follow-on system and legacy terminals. This dual-payload design ensures a smooth transition to the cutting-edge WCDMA technology while the UFO system is phased out.
Lockheed Martin is currently under contract to deliver five MUOS satellites and the associated ground system to the U.S. Navy. Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Sunnyvale, California, is the MUOS prime contractor and system integrator. The Navys Program Executive Office for Space Systems, Chantilly, Virginia, and its Communications Satellite Program Office, San Diego, California, are responsible for the MUOS program.
For MUOS, Lockheed Martin is building on its proven record of providing progressively advanced spacecraft for protected, narrowband and wideband military satellite communications. Lockheed Martin built the legacy Milstar protected communications satellites, as well as the Defense Satellite Communications Systems (DSCS) wideband communications spacecraft for the U.S. Air Force.