Rocket launch
(Photo : Pixabay)

A next-generation army communications satellite will launch on Thursday, Mar. 26, on the first countrywide safety mission for the USA Space Force.

The 6th and final Advanced Extremely High-Frequency satellite (AEHF-6) is scheduled to raise off atop a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Thursday. You can watch the action at Space.Com courtesy of ULA, or directly at the corporation.

SpaceFlightNow said AEHF satellites circle Earth in geostationary orbit, approximately 22,200 miles (37,730 kilometers) above the planet.

"In the modern dynamic environment, national security is of maximum importance," Gary Wentz, ULA vice president of government and business programs, said in a statement. "We are proud to launch the first National Security Space task for the U.S. Space Force," he said. ULA said it is looking forward to handling over the final AEHF asset to assist our nation's countrywide protection and the warfighter community."


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What's so special about this project?

Representative of Aerospace Corporation and AEHF's prime contractor, Lockheed Martin, claimed the six-satellite gadget gives vastly advanced global, survivable, protected communications competencies for strategic command and tactical warfighters operating on ground, sea and air platforms.

Rocket launch
(Photo : Pixabay)

"The jam-resistant gadget also serves international partners together with Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom," he said.

The first five AEHF craft is already up, having released in August 2010, May 2012, September 2013, October 2018, and August 2019, all atop Atlas V rockets. The device has been operational since 2015, and the satellites have a 14-year layout lifetime.

AEHF-6 could be the primary National Security Space task for the U.S. Space Force, which became officially set up in December 2019.

The AEHF satellites are follow-ons to the Air Force's Milstar satellite network and are designed to operate at the least 14 years.

Each of the AEHF satellites, which can be spread around the world to allow global coverage, gives more capacity than the entire five-satellite Milstar constellation. The AEHF satellites are cross-related with one another, permitting the network to beam alerts around the sector without going through a ground station.

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Col. John Dukes Jr., senior materiel chief for the geosynchronous orbit division SMC's production corps, said the project will immediately operate as soon as it passes post-release tests.

The AEHF satellites offer connectivity at one of a kind specified fact rates between 5 bits per second to 8 megabits per second. What distinguishes the AEHF satellites is their capacity to resist jamming and preserve operating, even on the occasion of nuclear war.

Dukes said AEHF will allow the President of the United States, countrywide leaders, and four international allies to be able to talk in voice-recognizable communication. The governments of Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom have joined the program.

Dukes claimed they have enough bandwidth to service all the terminals in our concept of operations. "By upgrading from the Milstar to the AEHF constellation, [we would be able to provide services] from now to 2030."

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