Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, with over 5,500 employees in Seal Beach, El
Segundo and Torrance, is the unit of The Boeing Company which designs, manufactures, tests, and operates satellites for both commercial and military customers. On Monday, June 15, 2009, operating from their new state-of-the-art Mission Control Center in El Segundo, Boeing’s team completed an in-orbit transfer of operational control of two spacecraft on the same day.
“The Boeing satellite team achieved an unprecedented milestone on Monday when we handed over two satellites, one for commercial use and one for military use, on the same day,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager for Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “During our 46 years of designing and delivering satellite systems, we have had two launches on the same day, from different parts of the world, but never have two customers accepted their spacecraft from us on the same day. It’s cause for celebration, and a testament to the commitment of our Boeing employees, who every day bring their best to Boeing in order to deliver space assets that serve our commercial customers and our nation.”
Boeing successfully transferred control of the second Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite to the U.S. Air Force, which will monitor and control the new satellite from Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. WGS-2 was declared ready for Department of Defense operational testing after rigorous ground testing, an April 3 launch, and a thorough on-orbit checkout. WGS satellites are the Defense Department’s highest-capacity communications satellite, offering a major increase in bandwidth for airmen, soldiers, sailors and Marines.
“The Air Force could not be more pleased with the performance of the WGS government-industry team and, of course, the performance of this important satellite,” said Brig. Gen. Samuel Greaves, commander of the Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Systems Wing at the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles. “We have high expectations in the MILSATCOM Systems Wing, and this team has once again proven that it is fully capable of meeting that challenge.”
The WGS system will augment and eventually replace the Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) constellation. WGS-1, which Boeing delivered to the Air Force in January 2008, and WGS-2 together are capable of handling more than 25 times the capacity of the entire DSCS constellation. The Defense Department has ordered six WGS satellites from Boeing and is making plans to buy more satellites to address growing SATCOM bandwidth needs worldwide.
“The WGS-2 handover is another important step in our overall mission to supply a system that will provide a quantum leap in wideband satellite communications worldwide,” said Cooning. “Boeing is proud to have delivered another WGS satellite that is meeting and, in many cases, exceeding all requirements for our Air Force customer.”
The el Segundo based Boeing satellite team also successfully completed the in-orbit handover of the IndoStar II/ProtoStar II commercial communications satellite to Bermuda-based ProtoStar Ltd. Following successful in-orbit tests and confirmed readiness to enter service, the Boeing-built 601HP satellite will now begin providing direct-to-home (DTH) broadcasting and telecommunications services to the Asia-Pacific region.
“The performance of the IndoStar II/ProtoStar II spacecraft has been excellent throughout the in-orbit testing period,” said Cooning. “We are very pleased to transfer control to ProtoStar. Congratulations to ProtoStar and the entire Boeing team for this significant milestone and another satellite mission flawlessly executed.”
An International Launch Services Proton Breeze M rocket launched IndoStar II/ProtoStar II on May 16 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. Positioned 22,300 miles above the Earth, the IndoStar II/ProtoStar II satellite will provide simultaneous operation of 32 transponders that deliver high-powered S- and Ku-band communications to consumer and small-to-medium-sized business markets throughout Indonesia, India, the Philippines and Taiwan.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems built the IndoStar II/ProtoStar II satellite at its Satellite Development Center in El Segundo and operated the spacecraft during postlaunch satellite system deployments and in-orbit testing from the company’s Mission Control Center.
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading …
About Dolores Barr, Publisher
Dolores Barr has lived in Rossmoor since 1992 and has created this site to provide local news for the people of Los Alamitos, Seal Beach, Rossmoor, Leisure World, Sunset Beach, and Surfside, California. My husband and I have had two students graduate from the Los Alamitos Unified School District and currently our Grandson, Ricky Apodaca, grade 3 at Weaver Elementary, is actively involved in youth baseball through LAYB and youth football through FNL.
In 
