Boeing fast-track Wideband Global SATCOM Satellite System through Advanced Tech

Boeing has begun building the latest version of the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite system, WGS-11+, using advanced techniques to effectively integrate the latest commercial technology while enabling a high-paced five-year schedule.

Boeing and the U.S. Space Force completed the system's critical design review in late 2021, officially launching the program's production phase. Leveraging additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, agile development and other advanced techniques, Boeing has created cost and schedule benefits.

WGS-11+ is based on Boeing's advances on its commercial 702X software-defined satellite payload, it is capable of generating hundreds of electronically-steered beams simultaneously, providing users with more than twice the mission capability compared to satellites within the existing WGS fleet. Like 702X, each individual beam is shapeable and can be uniquely tailored to any operation, enabling increased mission flexibility and responsiveness. Narrower beam widths with dual polarization unique to WGS-11+ help protect against jamming and interference while allowing greater frequency reuse.

 When it joins the constellation of ten WGS satellites, WGS-11+ will substantially increase throughput capacity of essential communication services for the U.S. government and its allies. It is scheduled for delivery in 2024.

"We're printing more than a thousand parts for WGS-11+, giving us the capability to introduce customization in a way that improves system performance, without requiring extensive integration times or customized tooling," said Troy Dawson, Boeing Government Satellite Systems vice president.