American Made Advocacy: Rebuilding America’s Military Stockpiles Begins With Microelectronics
The Right Approach: The End of an Era—DoD Proposes MIL-PRF-31032 Cancellation
Defense Speak Interpreted: Hypersonics Report Back After Six Years of Silence
Boeing Building Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11+ Satellite Using Advanced Techniques
March 3, 2022 | BoeingEstimated reading time: 1 minute
Boeing has begun building the latest version of the Wideband Global SATCOM satellite system, WGS-11+, using advanced techniques to effectively integrate the latest commercial technology while enabling a high-paced five-year schedule that will deliver years faster than similar clean-sheet designs.
"We're moving at record-breaking speed to deliver the unmatched resilience, efficiency, and throughput WGS-11+ offers our warfighters," said Col. Matt Spencer, Space Systems Command Geosynchronous Earth Orbit and Polar Division Senior Materiel Leader. "Boeing's ability to rapidly integrate the latest commercial technology into our infrastructure gives us a competitive edge on the battlefield."
Boeing and the U.S. Space Force completed the system's critical design review in late 2021, officially launching the program's production phase. Leveraging additive manufacturing, rapid prototyping, agile development and other advanced techniques, Boeing has created cost and schedule benefits, while boosting system performance.
"We're printing more than a thousand parts for WGS-11+, giving us the capability to introduce customization in a way that improves system performance, without requiring extensive integration times or customized tooling," said Troy Dawson, Boeing Government Satellite Systems vice president. "We understand how important speed is to the mission. That production speed translates to effectiveness against threats. As we continue to invest our technology and processes, we know that a similarly capable satellite could be delivered even faster."
WGS-11+ showcases an evolution in phased array technology. Based on Boeing's advances on its commercial 702X software-defined satellite payload, it is capable of generating hundreds of electronically-steered beams simultaneously, providing users with more than twice the mission capability compared to satellites within the existing WGS fleet.
Like 702X, each individual beam is shapeable and can be uniquely tailored to any operation, enabling increased mission flexibility and responsiveness. Narrower beam widths with dual polarization unique to WGS-11+ help protect against jamming and interference while allowing greater frequency reuse.
When it joins the constellation of ten WGS satellites, WGS-11+ will substantially increase throughput capacity of essential communication services for the U.S. government and its allies. It is scheduled for delivery in 2024.
Share on:
Testimonial
"Our marketing partnership with I-Connect007 is already delivering. Just a day after our press release went live, we received a direct inquiry about our updated products!"
Rachael Temple - AlltematedSuggested Items
The Missing Connection: Wire Harness Quoting Joins the Digital Age
05/01/2026 | Joanne Harris, Tech-2marketingWalk the floor of a modern wire harness manufacturing facility, and the investment in technology is hard to miss. Automated wire cutting and stripping machines process thousands of cuts an hour with sub-millimeter precision. Computerized crimping presses deliver consistent, validated terminations that a hand tool never could. Laser wire markers, automated test benches, and vision-guided assembly stations represent hundreds of thousands of dollars of capital investment, all in service of building a better harness faster and more reliably than the competition.
Everspin Executes $40M Agreement for Mil-Aero MRAM Applications
05/01/2026 | Everspin Technologies, Inc.Everspin Technologies, Inc., the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) persistent memory solutions, announced an agreement with a U.S. prime contractor to provide state-of-the-art Toggle MRAM process technology capabilities and engineering services for United States Defense Industrial Base customers.
Everspin Executes $40M Agreement for Mil-Aero MRAM Applications
04/30/2026 | Everspin Technologies, Inc.Everspin Technologies, Inc., the world’s leading developer and manufacturer of Magnetoresistive Random Access Memory (MRAM) persistent memory solutions, announced an agreement with a U.S. prime contractor to provide state-of-the-art Toggle MRAM process technology capabilities and engineering services for United States Defense Industrial Base customers.
Swinburne University, Siemens Launch Australia’s First Quantum Timing Study for Smarter Power Grids
04/30/2026 | SiemensSwinburne University of Technology and Siemens are undertaking first-of-its-kind research in Australia, into how quantum-enhanced timing can help future-proof the energy grid and increase grid stability.
A Designer's Focus on High Density
04/30/2026 | Marcy LaRont, I-Connect007 MagazineVern Solberg is a distinguished member of the Global Electronics Association Raymond E. Pritchard Hall of Fame and has served as chair or vice chair of many committees, developing technical standards and implementation guidelines, including the IPC-7090 series, which focuses on design for manufacturing and reliability for electronic assemblies. He’s a long-time contributor to Design007 Magazine, and he conducted a half-day tutorial at APEX EXPO 2026, where he addressed 2D, 2.5D, and 3D packaging and ultra-high density hybrid bond interconnect. I caught up with Vern at the show and asked about his pivot from addressing more standard design challenges to his focus on high-density circuits.