Wideband Global SATCOM
The Wideband Global SATCOM (until 2007 Wideband Gapfiller Satellite system WGS ) is a military satellite communication system of the U.S. Department of Defense.
The system consists of three segments:
- The satellite constituting the space segment,
- The communication terminal of the user, referred to as terminal segment, and
- The control segment, the ground control of the satellite.
The WGS system will complement the present from the Defense Satellite Communications System ( DSCS ) and Global Broadcast System (GBS ) existing broadband communication services of the armed forces and replace later. According to the military project has a single WGS satellite the same transmission bandwidth as the entire DSCS III satellite constellation.
Satellite
The about 6000 kg satellite built by Boeing Satellite Systems based on the BSS satellites 702 model. The satellites are to be brought from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station using the Atlas V and Delta IV rockets in a geostationary orbit. The satellites are designed for a lifetime of 14 years. According to the Air Force Space Command at any of the satellite will cost about 300 million U.S. dollars.
The payload consists of an X - and Ka-band communications device that can be connected to a total of 19 individually controllable transmission ranges. Here, over a bandwidth of 4.875 GHz data transfer rates of up to 3.6 Gbit / s are possible. The satellites of the block 2 have additional broadband transmission capacity for airborne reconnaissance systems.
So far, nine satellites are ordered, the sixth of Australia and the ninth is jointly funded by Canada, Denmark, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and New Zealand in exchange for rights to use the WGS system.