Article Posted on : - Dec 20, 2011

Lockheed Martin delivered the US Navy's first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. photo: Lockheed Martin.

SUNNYVALE, CALIFORNIA (BNS): Lockheed Martin has delivered the US Navy's first Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, where it will be prepared for a Feb. 16, 2012 liftoff aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle.

The MUOS constellation is a next-generation narrowband tactical satellite communications system that will augment and replace the legacy Ultra High Frequency Follow-On system, providing significantly improved and assured communications for the mobile warfighter.

"The system will provide military users 16 times the communications capacity of existing satellites, including simultaneous voice, video and data capability enhancements and we look forward to achieving mission success for our customer," Mark Pasquale, Lockheed Martin vice president and MUOS programme manager said in the company statement.

The MUOS satellite will now undergo post shipment testing, fueling, payload fairing encapsulation, and mate atop the Atlas V launch vehicle in preparation for launch, the news release added.

MUOS consists of four geostationary earth orbit (GEO) satellites with an additional on-orbit spare, and a fiber optic terrestrial network connecting four ground stations around the globe.

As the first MUOS satellite prepares for launch, the Lockheed Martin team continues to make significant progress on the subsequent satellites.

The second MUOS space vehicle is currently undergoing environmental testing which will validate its performance in a simulated space environment. The third and fourth MUOS satellites are also steadily progressing in the production flow.