Lockheed Martin, Navy deliver communications satellite

PALO ALTO, Calif., Nov. 7 (UPI) -- The third MUOS secure military communications satellite has been delivered to Florida by Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Navy for launch next year.

The MUOS, or Mobile User Objective System, spacecraft, much like a cellular telephone tower, provides troops on the move with beyond-line-of-sight capability to send and receive secure voice and data communications using an Internet Protocol-based system.

"The delivery of MUOS-3 is an important step toward enabling our warfighters to be able to pick up the phone to seamlessly call or transfer data anywhere around the world," said Iris Bombelyn, vice president of Narrowband Communications at Lockheed Martin. "With the launch of the third satellite in the constellation, to be followed later in 2015 by the fourth, MUOS will be in place to provide pole-to-pole and global, secure communications for the warfighter."

MUOS-3 was delivered to Cape Canaveral, Fla., where it will undergo post-shipment testing. Lockheed Martin will then fuel the spacecraft's propulsion system and the spacecraft will be encapsulated inside the launch vehicle's payload fairing.

Other tests will follow before it is sent aloft on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket.

MUOS-1 and MUOS-2 were launched respectively launched in 2012 and 2013.

Lockheed Martin is the prime contractor for MUOS satellites. The U.S. Navy Executive Office for Space Systems and its Communications Satellite Program Office are responsible for the MUOS program.