The US Space Force has awarded a $437.66-million contract to procure jam-resistant military communications satellites.
The US Space Force has awarded satellite operators Viasat and Intelsat General Communications a $437.66-million contract to procure jam-resistant military communications satellites for troops operating in contested battle environments.
The contract supports the Protected Tactical Satellite-Global (PTS-G) program, which aims to field a constellation of maneuverable small satellites in geosynchronous Earth orbit to provide resilient, jam-resistant communications capabilities.
By distributing coverage across multiple smaller satellites, the concept ensures that the loss or disruption of a single spacecraft does not cripple communications across an entire region.
Complements Other Satcoms
PTS-G is intended to augment other satellite and ground-system elements of the Protected Anti-Jam Tactical SATCOM family of systems, which includes satellites, the encrypted Protected Tactical Waveform, ground control systems, and a joint army-air force anti-jam modem project.
PTS-G satellites will support X-band and military Ka-band communications, two radio frequency bands commonly used for military operations.
This award obligated $150 million in fiscal year 2026 research, development, test, and evaluation funds, with work expected to be completed by March 19, 2029.
The companies were selected from a group of five bidders that also included Northrop Grumman, Astranis, and Boeing. The firms previously received a combined $37.3 million in July 2025 for the design and demonstration of PTS-G technologies.
The US Space Force has previously stated that the first PTS-G satellite is expected to launch in 2028. A second wave of production awards for additional PTS-G satellite capability is planned for 2028, with launches targeted for 2031.
Bridging Capability
PTS-G is intended to bridge the gap between focused tactical SATCOM requirements and the less secure communications provided by commercial satellite constellations.
The program is also expected to inform the Space Force’s future tactical SATCOM architecture, including the planned reintroduction of the PTS-Resilient effort in fiscal year 2028.
Separately, the service awarded Northrop Grumman a $398-million contract to design and build a communications satellite prototype under the Enhanced Protected Tactical SATCOM-Prototype (Enhanced PTS-P) program, which is intended to provide more advanced capabilities than PTS-G.
The first Enhanced PTS-P satellite is not expected to launch before fiscal year 2030.
