Lockheed Hands Over 5th MUOS Satellite to Navy

The U.S. Navy has assumed full operational control of the fifth Lockheed Martin-built Mobile User Objective System satellite.

Lockheed said Thursday the Naval Satellite Operations Center took control of MUOS-5 on Oct. 11 following the satellite’s on-orbit test and the delivery of equipment needed for satellite operations.

The MUOS constellation of five satellites is designed to deliver ultra-high frequency satellite communications for mobile forces.

The Navy worked with the Army Forces Strategic Command, or ARSTRAT, to configure MUOS-5’s legacy UHF payload for testing.

The handover of MUOS-5 cleared the way for ASTRAT to roll out the payload’s final configurations, which is intended to support the Navy’s legacy UHF satcom operations.

All MUOS satellites carry two communications payloads to support both legacy UHF and the next-generation Wideband Code Division Multiple Access.

Lockheed said the MUOS network is designed to provide 10 times higher communications capacity than the legacy UHF satellite system once fully operational.