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Thinking realistically on TSAT
April 1st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Ben Iannotta
Killing TSAT could shine the spotlight on the Wideband Global Satcom spacecraft, one of which is seen here awaiting launch.
Boeing appears to be positioning itself for the demise of the proposed Transformational Satellite Communications System (TSAT) program.
Observers here suspect TSAT is on the Obama administration’s list of defense budget cuts for 2010, a spending plan expected to be released in late April or early May.
If built as advertised, TSAT would revolutionize battlefield communications with higher data rates and communications on the move.
Lockheed Martin and Boeing have been studying its technologies under Air Force contracts. If TSAT were to stay on plan, the competition to build the first satellites would get underway this year. But few here expect that plan to proceed.
“We’re in a different economy now than when TSAT was” initiated, said Craig Cooning, Boeing’s manager for space and intelligence systems. “I think there other options that Boeing can deliver.”
Cooning said Boeing engineers are making modifications to the fourth and fifth planned Wideband Global Satcom satellites to increase their airborne intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance coverage, for example.
Wideband Global Satcom no. 2 poised for launch
April 1st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Ben Iannotta
Boeing's Craig Cooning, manager of space and intelligence systems, talks with reporters.
The second U.S. Wideband Global Satcom satellite appears to be a go for launch Friday evening, April 3, from Florida, said Boeing’s Craig Cooning, manager of the company’s space and intelligence systems, after meeting with Air Force officials.
The second WGS satellite will be stationed in geosynchronous orbit over the Indian Ocean to boost communications throughput to U.S. forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The satellite will be the second satellite in a planned eight satellite constellation ringing the globe.
As military users have familiarized themselves with the first WGS satellite over the Pacific Ocean, they have found unexpected uses, Cooning said. “I think when the second one gets over the Middle East area, they’ll find even more ways to use it,” Cooning told reporters in a media roundtable discussion.
Cooning made clear that the WGS satellites are central to Boeing’s space business plan. The company is currently on contract to build six WGSs. Maintaining a constellation of eight spacecraft would require the government to buy 11 or 12, Cooning said.
At one point, Cooning referred to the U.S. Defense Satellite Communications System satellites, which were built by Lockheed Martin and are to be replaced by the WGSs. “We look forward to [the WGS program] being a long and fruitful endeavor,” he said.
The launch window opens at 8:35 p.m. Within 45 minutes, Boeing should know if reached orbit safely.
Space surveillance sat must wait
March 31st, 2009 | National Space Symposium | Posted by Ben Iannotta
Technicians prepare the Space Based Space Surveillance satellite for launch.
Boeing and Ball Aerospace have finished building and testing the U.S. Air Force’s Space Based Space Surveillance (SBSS) satellite. Now they need a rocket to send it to orbit, where it would use its electro-optical camera to track and image geosynchronous satellites and space debris.
The SBSS satellite was scheduled to ride into space “about now” on an Orbital Sciences Corp. Minotaur 4 rocket, said Boeing’s Todd Citron, who oversees the program. But the U.S. Air Force is awaiting the results of an investigation into a February launch failure involving a similar Orbital Sciences rocket, the Taurus. That rocket deposited a NASA carbon-monitoring satellite into the Pacific Ocean instead of low-Earth orbit.
The contractors are anxious to see SBSS reach space successfully, and soon. The February destruction of an Iridium satellite in a collision with a defunct Russian communications satellite has renewed emphasis on space surveillance in the U.S. and among commercial satellite operators.
A successful SBSS mission could “drive a demand for follow-ons,” said Ball’s Fred Doyle, vice president and general manager of national defense programs fro the company.
Boeing is the SBSS prime contractor and is providing the ground control equipment and software at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. Ball built the spacecraft’s frame and attached its moveable camera.
Tags: Air Force, Ball Aerospace, Boeing, rocket OCO SBSS Ball Aerospace, SBSS