Lockheed and Boeing move forward on MUOS satellite communications (SATCOM) service life extension project

Questions and answers:

• What is the goal of the MUOS Service Life Extension (SLE) project? It aims to extend the operational life of the Mobile User Objective System satellite constellation into the mid-2030s.
• Which companies received contracts for the MUOS SLE Phase I work? Lockheed Martin Space Systems and Boeing Defense, Space & Security each received $29.4 million orders for risk reduction and design work.
• How does MUOS improve upon legacy UHF satellite communications? MUOS uses a 3G WCDMA cellular network architecture with geosynchronous satellites, providing about ten times the capacity of older UHF SATCOM systems.

LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Lockheed Martin Corp. and the Boeing Co. are moving forward with extending the life of a crucial military satellite communications (SATCOM) system that provides secure global narrowband voice, video, and data to military users.

Officials of the U.S. Space Force's Space Systems Command at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., announced separate orders to Lockheed Martin and Boeing last month for the Mobile User Objective System Service Life Extension (MUOS SLE) project to extend the operational life of the MUOS satellite constellation into the mid-2030s.

MUOS is a secure global SATCOM network that provides ultra-high frequency (UHF) voice, video, and data communications for military mobile forces.

The MUOS system uses a 3G wideband code division multiple access (WCDMA) cell phone-like service network architecture combined with geosynchronous satellites to offer about ten times the capacity of legacy UHF satellite communications.

Extending the lifetime of MUOS

Space force awarded a $29.4 million order to Lockheed Martin Space Systems in Sunnyvale, Calif., and a $29.4 million order to Boeing Defense, Space & Security in El Segundo, Calif., for MUOS service life extension work.

The companies will provide risk reduction and design work for MUOS SLE Phase I prior to entering MUOS SLE Phase II. The companies both won separate $66 million Space Force contracts last January for the first phase of the MUOS SLE program.

The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is the U.S. military's narrowband military SATCOM system that supports a worldwide, multiservice population of ultra-high-frequency (UHF) users for reliable communications with the latest military SATCOM terminals.

Tell me more about the most important U.S. military mobile SATCOM systems ...

• The U.S. military relies on several mobile SATCOM systems for secure, resilient, and global communications for forces on the move. Narrowband mobile SATCOM involves the Mobile User Objective System (MUOS); Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) involves X- and Ka-band links for aircraft, ships, and deployed ground forces; tactical/mobile terminals and systems involve handheld and manpack satellite terminals that operate on a variety of SATCOM systems.

Space Force experts are making plans to acquire two additional satellites to replenish the existing constellation and continue MUOS operations beyond its original projected service life through the mid-2030s, as part of the MUOS SLE project.

MUOS SLE satellite acquisition is divided into two phases, the first of which covers risk reduction and early design, and carry out risk reduction and design to reduce as much risk and uncertainty as possible prior to entering the project's second phase.

On these contracts, Lockheed Martin and Boeing will do the work at their own facilities, and should be finished by August 2026. For more information contact Lockheed Martin Space online at www.lockheedmartin.com/en-us/capabilities/space.html, Boeing Defense, Space & Security at www.boeing.com/company/about-bds, or U.S. Space Force Space Systems Command at www.ssc.spaceforce.mil/about-us/about-us.