[SatNews] The U.S. Air Force has scheduled the launch of the seventh Wideband Global SATCOM spacecraft aboard a Delta IV launch vehicle on July 22 from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.

Artistic rendition of a WGS satellite.

Image courtesy of Boeing.

This is the seventh launch for the WGS constellation and the fifth WGS launch on the Delta IV launch vehicle. The WGS-7 satellite will provide military forces with enhanced communication capabilities and extend coverage of the WGS constellation. WGS procurement is through contracts with The Boeing Company issued by the Air Force Space Command's Military Satellite Communications (MILSATCOM) Systems Directorate.  The MILSATCOM Systems Directorate plans for, acquires, and sustains space-enabled global communications to support the President, Secretary of Defense, and combat forces.

WGS is the nation's next-generation wideband satellite communications system.  It is augmenting and replacing the Defense Satellite Communication System, the Department of Defense's backbone for wideband satellite communications over the last two decades.   The Space and Missile Systems Center is the U.S. Air Force's center of acquisition excellence for acquiring and developing military space systems including Global Positioning System, military satellite communications, defense meteorological satellites, space launch and range systems, satellite control networks, space-based infrared systems, and space situational awareness capabilities.

Executive Comment

"WGS-7, built by Boeing, is the first satellite under the contract that will produce vehicles 7-10," said Lt. Gen. Samuel A. Greaves, Space and Missile Systems Center commander and Air Force Program Executive Officer for Space.  "WGS-7 will join the constellation to continue providing highly capable military communications that leverages the latest technological advances while simultaneously delivering more capability to the warfighter."