ULA’s Delta IV Rocket Launches 9th Boeing-Built WGS Military Comms Satellite Into Space

United Launch Alliance launched a Boeing-built satellite into orbit Saturday aboard a Delta IV rocket to provide military communications support for the U.S. military and six of the country’s allies.

The ninth Wideband Global SATCOM satellite with  updated digital channelizers that are designed to nearly double the bandwidth of earlier satellites in the WGS system, Boeing said Saturday.

Boeing is contracted to build 10 WGS satellites for the U.S. Air Force, with the last satellite tentatively scheduled for deployment sometime in 2018.

WGS-9 was funded through a partnership between U.S., Canada, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and New Zealand and will also support Australia.

The full WGS system works to help partner countries secure communications in the X- and Ka-band frequencies, Boeing noted.