Boeing secures $2.8 billion US satellite deal

Boeing said on Thursday it had secured a $2.8 billion U.S. contract to develop and produce two satellites with options for two more.

The Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) program will deliver space-based nuclear, command, control, and communications for the U.S. president and joint strategic global forces.

Boeing is set to deliver the first of two space vehicles by 2031.

“The U.S. needs a strategic national security architecture that works without fail, with the highest level of protection and capability,” said Kay Sears, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space, Intelligence and Weapon Systems. 

“We designed an innovative system to provide guaranteed communication to address an evolving threat environment in space,” added Sears.

Boeing said that its ESS solution is underpinned by technology the company has developed for the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11 and WGS-12 satellites and had already proven on-orbit aboard the commercial O3b mPOWER constellation.

Building on these developments, this strategic military communications satellite constellation will be equipped with flexible and resilient signals to protect against interruption or interception.

When deployed in geostationary orbit – about 35,700 km (22,000 miles) from the Earth’s surface – ESS will provide persistent coverage to strategic warfighters worldwide.

The spacecraft will leverage a highly protected waveform and classified technologies developed in partnership with the U.S. Department of Defense.

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