The Air Force and the United Launch Alliance successfully launched the last of the Navy’s constellation of five Mobile User Objective System satellites that provide improved on-the-move communications for the joint forces on the land, sea, and in the air. The Lockheed Martin-produced MUOS-5 satellite was launched into orbit aboard an ULA Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on June 24, completing the Navy program, according to an Air Force release. The MUOS satellites carry a dual payload, with one component providing an advanced broadband capacity for secure voice, video, and data transmission and the other an expansion of the legacy Ultra High Frequency network. MUOS-5’s UHF payload will be active but the broadband component will serve as a spare in case of a loss of one of the four other satellites.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
