On-orbit render of a spacecraft resembling Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) satellite. Boeing
Space Force Taps Boeing to Build Next-Gen Strategic Comms Satellites
The $2.8B ESS contract marks a major milestone in NC3 modernization, with a shift to more resilient and proliferated satellite architectures.
The U.S. Space Force has awarded Boeing a $2.8 billion contract for the Evolved Strategic Satellite Communications (ESS) program, a step in the modernization of the nation's Nuclear Command, Control, and Communications (NC3) architecture. This contract, which covers the development and production of two initial ESS satellites with options for two additional units, will be the follow-on for the legacy Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) constellation.
Even as the Air Force was taking delivery of its $31 billion Milstar constellation in the late 1990s, it became clear that more bandwidth would be necessary. In 1997, the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded Hughes Space and Communications (now Boeing Satellite Development Center) and TRW (now part of Northrop Grumman Space Technology) $64.5 million and $59.2 million contracts, respectively, for the Advanced EHF premanufacturing risk-reduction program. The contracts provided for the development of prototypes of advanced digital processing systems for the spacecraft.
Awards to Hughes and a Lockheed Martin TRW team for system definition studies followed in August 1999. Although the Air Force considered selecting a single national team consisting of Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing to run the AEHF program, the service eventually settled on a Lockheed Martin (Bus)-Northrop Grumman (Payload) team after Boeing dropped out of the program. The two companies were awarded a $2.7 billion contract for System Development and Demonstration (SDD) in November 2001.
In May 2004, Lockheed Martin successfully completed the two-year CDR phase, which validated the overall AEHF design. Following completion of the CDR, the AEHF program moved forward to production. These satellites began to launch in 2010.
The follow-on ESS program is designed to provide survivable, secure, protected, and jam-resistant strategic satellite communication capabilities across all operational environments, addressing the vulnerabilities inherent in a less distributed architecture. Unlike the six-satellite AEHF constellation, which operates in geostationary orbit (GEO), ESS is envisioned as a more proliferated architecture that will incorporate diverse orbital regimes. While specific constellation numbers remain classified, Space Force budget documents indicate a need for four space vehicles to achieve initial operational capability (IOC) by fiscal year 2032.
Boeing's selection for the ESS prime contract follows a competitive prototyping phase that commenced in 2020, involving Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman. Boeing's proposed solution integrates technologies from its Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11 and -12 programs, as well as from the commercial O3b mPOWER constellation.
The ESS satellites, once deployed in geostationary orbit at approximately 35,700 km, will provide global coverage for strategic warfighters. Although not announced, the ESS constellation has been described as utilizing "diverse orbits" which might mean Low Earth Orbit (LEO) and Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) among others. The overall ESS Space Segment acquisition is projected to reach $12 billion, with future procurements transitioning to fixed-price contracts to achieve full operational capability.