CAPE CANAVERAL AIR FORCE STATION, Fla., August 12th, 2010 — The U.S. Air Force’s first Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) military communications satellite, designed and built by a Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] team, is ready to launch aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., on Saturday, August 14. The launch window is 7:07 to 9:06 a.m. EDT.

The AEHF system will provide survivable, protected, assured, communications to the U.S. government, warfighters and international partners, including the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands. Building upon the success of the current five-satellite Milstar constellation, AEHF will provide 10 times greater total capacity and offer channel data rates six times higher than that of Milstar II satellites. The higher data rates permit transmission of tactical military communications such as real-time video, battlefield maps and targeting data.

“AEHF represents a new era of global protected communications that will provide significantly improved, assured connectivity to a greater number of warfighters,” said Mike Davis, Lockheed Martin’s AEHF vice president. “The team has executed a smooth and efficient transition to the launch pad and we look forward to achieving mission success for our customer.”

The AEHF team is led by the U.S. Air Force Military Satellite Communications Systems Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, Sunnyvale, Calif., is the AEHF prime contractor and system manager, with Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems, Redondo Beach, Calif., as the payload provider.

Source and photo: Lockheed Martin