The Navy has confirmed its fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) secure military communications satellite is operating normally following its launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Sept. 2.
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The MUOS-4 satellite, built by Lockheed Martin and launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket, will complete an initial constellation enabling near-global coverage of Navy's smartphone-like network for mobile forces. The satellite has been communicating with a Lockheed Martin-led initialization team stationed at Naval Base Ventura County, Point Mugu, California. The MUOS-4 is on track to reach its geosynchronous orbit location approximately 22,000 miles above the Earth, at which point its solar arrays and antennas will be deployed and on-orbit health checks will start for subsequent turnover to the Navy.
Once fully operational, the MUOS network will provide comparatively 16 times the capacity of the legacy ultra-high-frequency communications satellite system, and will be compatible with more than 55,000 currently fielded radio terminals following software upgrades. It will connect terminals beyond line-of-sight around the globe and into the Global Information Grid and will offer simultaneous, crystal-clear voice, video and mission data over a high-speed Internet Protocol-based system.
