The third Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communication satellite, which provides improved global, secure, communications for military warfighters, was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on September 18th, 2013. The satellite system, which serves international partners including Canada, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom, has been functioning well in testing and is meeting all mission needs.
Lockheed Martin has delivered all three satellites and is progressing on schedule to deliver three more. The firm has also contributed payload system engineering, mission control ground software, solar arrays, and the A2100 spacecraft bus, a dependable and low-risk platform. The AEHF satellites have successfully provided greater total capacity than the entire five-satellite Milstar constellation. They are also capable of increasing user data rates five-fold as well as providing survivable, protected, and endurable communications links in all levels of conflict.