Boeing's El Segundo-based Satellite Development Center and its "TEAM TSAT" partners demonstrated the "one-button" start-up feature of its U.S. ground station, an important part of the company's bid to win the Air Force contract for the Transformational Satellite Communications System, known as TSAT.
The Boeing-led team is competing against a Lockheed Martin led team for the Air Force satellite system that is expected to dramatically advance military communications. Northrop Grumman Corp.'s Space Technology sector in Redondo Beach is Lockheed's main subcontractor in the competition.
The Boeing start-up feature allows a ground station technician or a remote command center operator to use one button on a control panel to go from a full "off" condition to full communications operation within minutes, even under adverse operating conditions. The hardware also supports a U.S. Air Force requirement that TSAT spacecraft operate without constant monitoring and adjustment.
"As we move toward the TSAT Space Segment award date, it's clear the Boeing design performs beyond specification with fewer components that are more commercially available," said Howard Chambers, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, which includes the El Segundo operation. "TEAM TSAT's solution significantly reduces cost and risk, and provides a robust ability to continue operating under conditions that would sideline all other competing designs."
The Air Force may announce the TSAT contracat winner by year's end. The contract will be worth billions of dollars for the winner.
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