CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE
STATION, Fla., Aug. 28, 2015
/PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Navy and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT)
are ready to launch the fourth Mobile User Objective System (MUOS)
secure communications satellite, MUOS-4, here on Monday, August 31, aboard a United Launch
Alliance Atlas V rocket. The launch window is between 6:07 a.m. and 6:51 a.m. EDT.
We continue to monitor Tropical Storm
Erika for potential impact to launch.
WATCH LIVE: A live launch broadcast will begin at 5:47 a.m. EDT and will be viewable as an online
webcast at www.ulalaunch.com. Broadcasters also can receive the
live launch following these instructions: http://ow.ly/Robo0.
Downloadable images of MUOS-4 are available at:
http://ow.ly/RsNIp.
Early-rising Californians may be particularly interested in the
webcast to watch one of their "hometown" satellites launch live.
The Navy's Program Executive Office for Space Systems and its
Communications Satellite Program Office responsible for the MUOS
program are based in San Diego.
Lockheed Martin assembled and tested MUOS-4 at its Sunnyvale, California facility.
MUOS-4 is the latest addition to a network of orbiting
satellites and relay ground stations that is revolutionizing secure
communications for mobile military forces. Users with operational
MUOS terminals can seamlessly connect beyond line-of-sight around
the globe and into the Global Information Grid. MUOS' new smart
phone-like capabilities include simultaneous, crystal-clear voice,
video and mission data, over a high-speed Internet Protocol-based
system.
"MUOS-4's delivery for the U.S. Navy completes the initial MUOS
constellation and provides near-global coverage for the network,
allowing mobile forces to communicate for the first time literally
around the world," said Iris
Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at
Lockheed Martin. "This year has already been a big year for MUOS
with the launch of MUOS-3 in January, followed by our delivery of
the last required relay ground station in February. Our team has
worked tirelessly, around the clock, but it is gratifying to know
we are providing our mobile forces with all the communications
capabilities they deserve to keep them out of harm's way."
In June, Lockheed Martin shipped the completed MUOS-4
satellite from California to the
Cape, where technicians encapsulated it in its protective launch
fairing earlier this month.
The MUOS network, which also supports the existing ultra high
frequency communications satellite system, will provide 16 times
the capacity of the legacy system and eventually replace it.
MUOS-1, MUOS-2 and MUOS-3 are already on orbit and all four
required MUOS ground stations are complete. MUOS-5, an on-orbit
Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) spare with
additional legacy system capability, is expected to launch in
2016.
More than 55,000 currently fielded radio terminals can be
upgraded to be MUOS-compatible, with many of them requiring just a
software upgrade.
For additional information, photos and video visit:
www.lockheedmartin.com/muos
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
112,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services.
The Corporation's net sales for 2014 were $45.6 billion.
Media Contact:
Chip Eschenfelder, +1 303-977-8375;
chip.eschenfelder@lmco.com
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin