Northrop Grumman wins $298 million contract to develop secure, jam-resistant ESS military SATCOM spacecraft

WASHINGTON – Northrop Grumman Corp. received a $298 million contract to develop an anti-jam military satellite to supplement and eventually replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites made by Lockheed Martin. Space News reports. Continue reading original article

The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:

21 Sept. 2020 -- The Space and Missile Systems Center announced the contract award Sept. 16 for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications program, known as Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS). The satellite is to be completed by May 2025.

The ESS program continues the strategic satellite communications (SATCOM) mission of the AEHF constellation -- providing survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military operations and national command authorities.

ESS satellites will interoperate with, and eventually replace, AEHF’s mid-latitude system capability, extending communications capability to the North Polar region.

Related: Lockheed Martin picks SEAKR Engineering to help develop; secure anti-jam SATCOM payload for PTS satellites

Related: Air Force asks Boeing to build eleventh WGS military communication satellite for global C4ISR

Related: Navy chooses L3Harris to design and build wideband SATCOM terminals for ships, submarines, and shore sites

John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics