The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., has awarded Lockheed Martin nearly $51 million to make the transition from legacy Milstar communications satellite ground control and mission planning equipment to new Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite program ground equipment. The first AEHF satellite is slated to launch in spring 2008. SMC expects Lockheed to complete this transition work by May 2010.
The long-standing method for communicating data down from space via radio frequencies has the potential to create deadly data bottlenecks that could slow and stymie future operations, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies. The report makes the case for combining RF with optical communications…