Space Force awards Viasat, SES $437 million for military satellite network
The U.S. Space Force awarded satellite operators Viasat and SES contracts worth a combined $437.6 million to build communications satellites for a new military network designed to withstand jamming and cyber attacks.
The contracts, announced May 22, are part of the Protected Tactical Satcom-Global program, known as PTS-G, which aims to use smaller satellites based on commercial technology to strengthen U.S. military communications from geostationary orbit.
The announcement did not specify how many satellites are included in the procurement. But Pentagon budget documents released last month say the first batch of satellites, known as "Swarm 1," will consist of four spacecraft. Viasat and SES would each build two.
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The satellites are scheduled for delivery by March 2029.
PTS-G is an effort to distribute communications capability across multiple smaller satellites operating together in what the Space Force refers to as a "swarm" architecture. The concept is designed to improve resilience by ensuring that the loss or disruption of a single satellite does not cripple coverage across an entire region.
The satellites will support X-band and military Ka-band communications, two radio frequency bands commonly used for military operations.
Viasat and SES were selected from a group of five companies chosen in July to develop demonstration payloads for the program. The pool also included Astranis, Boeing and Northrop Grumman.
A Viasat executive told SpaceNews last year that the company designed a dual-band X-Ka satellite for PTS-G using technology derived from its Viasat-3 broadband satellite constellation.
Pentagon budget documents also show plans for a second procurement round in 2028 involving four additional PTS-G satellites, with deployment planned for 2031.
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