Boeing and Air Force Receive DOD Excellence Award for Wideband Global SATCOM Program
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EL SEGUNDO, Calif., Nov. 5, 2009 -- Boeing [NYSE: BA] and the U.S. Air Force have received a Department of Defense (DOD) "Top 5" excellence award for systems engineering on the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) program. WGS is the DOD's highest-capacity communications satellite and provides assured, high-data-rate connectivity to U.S. warfighters and their allies around the world.
Members of the Air Force-Boeing WGS team accepted the award on Oct. 28 at the National Defense Industry Association's (NDIA) Systems Engineering Conference in San Diego. Each year, the Department of Defense and NDIA recognize up to five defense programs that have demonstrated superior systems engineering practices that result in outstanding program performance.
"Boeing is honored to be part of the Air Force team that received this DOD program excellence award for WGS," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "I congratulate the Air Force-Boeing team on their many accomplishments, including two satellites now in operation and a third scheduled to launch in November. Their tight teamwork and unwavering commitment have been extraordinary. This award is a testament to their dedication to delivering significantly improved communications to U.S. warfighters and allies around the world."
"With its extraordinary increase in satellite communications capacity and flexibility, WGS helps our warfighters more effectively execute their missions on land, at sea and in the air," said Brig. Gen. Samuel Greaves, Vice Commander of the Air Force's Space and Missile Systems Center in Los Angeles. "The WGS team is performing superbly and setting the standards for getting these critical communications assets into space and into operational use."
WGS satellites address the military's growing need for high-bandwidth communications, ranging from transmission of full-motion video and sensor data gathered from unmanned aerial vehicles, to video teleconferencing among military leaders around the world, to provision of quality-of-life services such as e-mail, news, and special event broadcasts for deployed troops.
Boeing is currently under contract to build six WGS satellites for the Air Force. WGS-1 was put into operation over the Pacific Ocean in April 2008 and WGS-2 entered service over the Middle East in August 2009. Both satellites are meeting and, in some cases, far exceeding mission requirements. WGS-3 is scheduled for launch later this year.
