US Space Force Orders Communications Satellite Prototype By 2024 - Northrop Grumman

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd April, 2021) The US Space Force has ordered a prototype Tactical Communications Satellite to be built with a flight demonstration scheduled for 2024, Northrop Grumman announced in a press release.

"Northrop Grumman Corporation has been selected by the US Space Force's (USSF) Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) to proceed with its ongoing Protected Tactical SATCOM (PTS) Rapid Prototype program, with a flight demonstration of the company's PTS payload set to occur in 2024," the company said.

Northrop Grumman was selected for the initial award through the Space Enterprise Consortium and the company can now go ahead with completing the detailed design, manufacturing and testing of the payload.

The company will also integrate its payload onto a host space vehicle and conduct its on-orbit demonstration, the release said.

"Northrop Grumman's selection to continue its Protected Tactical SATCOM rapid prototyping reflects our close collaboration with SMC and allows us to further support the Space Force's critical mission," Northrop Grumman Vice President of Communications Systems Cyrus Dhalla said in the release.

Northrop Grumman completed the preliminary design peer review of its PTS prototype in December 2020 and it has validated the advanced, anti-jam performance of its design using the Protected Tactical Waveform, an anti-jam communications waveform that allows access to secure, protected communications, the release added.