The satellite and launch vehicle were built by Lockheed Martin at its operations in Sunnyvale and Denver.

Milstar II, the Defense Department's most technologically advanced telecommunications satellite, is the first to carry the Medium Data Rate (MDR) payload which can process data at speeds of 1.5 megabits per second.

Two Milstar I satellites currently on-orbit are equipped with a UHF and Low Data Rate payload, which transmits information at rates between 75 and 2,400 bits per second. Lockheed Martin is under contract to provide two more Milstar II spacecraft in addition to the satellite currently set for launch.

The new MDR payload represents a transition to the new Block II configuration, which will offer a variety of enhanced communications features for the U.S. military. These include added security through the use of specially designed antennas and faster data-rate transmissions for all users.

The Milstar spacecraft constellation provides secure, global communication links for the joint forces of the U.S. military and can transmit voice, data, and imagery, in addition to offering video teleconferencing capabilities.

"The Milstar block II system is specifically designed to provide new capabilities more suitable to this era of regional conflicts. Our team not only proposed a great solution with the MDR payload, but it implemented that solution rapidly and under tight budget restrictions," said Len Kwiatkowski, Lockheed Martin vice president, Military Space Programs.

"We are proud to be on the Milstar team which is providing U.S. forces with the capability to communicate without betraying their locations and to do so securely, within close proximity of enemy jammers."

Milstar's "switchboard-in-space " concept is a revolutionary departure from all current communications systems and is designed to provide adaptable, secure, and survivable communications between fixed-site, mobile, and hand-portable terminals. The system does this by utilizing five technologies not found in any previous military satellite communication system:

1. on-board signal processing,
2. on-board signal routing,
3. on-board resource control,
4. crossbanding (receiving a signal through one antenna at one frequency and processing and relaying it through a different antenna at a different frequency) and
5. satellite crosslinks (antennas that allow satellites to beam signals directly to each other without using ground station relays).

Milstar is used for communications among ships, submarines and land-based Naval stations via Navy Extremely High Frequency Satellite Communications Program terminals. The system provides communications networks to Army units via the Secure Mobile Anti-Jam Reliable Tactical Terminals mounted on vehicles, and to individual troops and small units from the Single Channel Anti-Jam Man-Portable terminals. For the Air Force, the Milstar system provides links for Air Force airborne command posts.

The Milstar team is led by the MILSATCOM Joint Program Office at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Lockheed Martin Missiles & Space operations is the Milstar prime contractor, Boeing Satellite Systems (BSS) provides the Medium Data Rate payload and crosslink subsystem, and TRW Space & Electronics Group provides the Low Data Rate payload.

Beyond Milstar
In May 2000, Lockheed Martin Space Systems, Boeing Satellite Systems and TRW formed a National Team to build the Department of Defense's next generation of highly secure communication satellites known as Advanced Extremely High Frequency (Advanced EHF) system. Formation of the team accelerates development of the new system by 18 months. The early deployment of Advanced EHF will increase military communication coverage.

Under the National Team arrangement, Lockheed Martin will serve as overall system integrator and prime contractor, issuing contracts to Boeing and TRW. The roles and responsibilities of each team member will take advantage of their strengths in building highly secure military communications satellites.

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