Lockheed Martin tests AEHF satellite

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SUNNYVALE, Calif., March 1 (UPI) -- U.S. company Lockheed Martin announced the success of in-orbit testing for its first Advanced Extremely High Frequency military communications satellite.

The Lockheed SV-1 AEHF satellite is designed to upgrade global, survivable, secure and protected communications for U.S. Department of Defense forces in ground, sea and aerial environments.

The AEHF SV-1 was launched in August 2010 aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket and reached geosynchronous orbit two months later.

The AEHF SV-1 satellite has completed on-orbit testing that included establishing communications networks between combinations of Extremely High Frequency terminals at Milstar data rates as well as new AEHF extended data rates.

The craft has been networked with the Milstar constellation.

After testing, the AEHF SV-1 will be turned over to the U.S. 14th Air Force at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

"I am extremely proud of the team that raised the SV-1 to geosynchronous orbit and successfully demonstrated its on-orbit performance," said Kevin Bilger, Lockheed's Global Communications Systems vice president and general manager.

"Their ingenuity, perseverance and dedication to the mission enabled this critical national asset to stand ready to provide our warfighters around the globe with unprecedented new protected communications capabilities."