Nichols Martin
Boeing officially transferred control of the the 10th company-built Wideband Global SATCOM satellite to the U.S. Air Force’s 4th Space Operations Squadron at a ceremony that took place Thursday at Schriever AF Base in Colorado.
The service branch said Friday that WGS-10 represents the second satellite of its kind that an Air Force component has accepted since the merger of the 3rd Space Operations Squadron and 4th SOPS.
United Launch Alliance’s Delta IV rocket carried the satellite to space on March 15.
“The Boeing and 4th SOPS launch, and early orbit team, went through a two-month rehearsal and a four-month execution period to ensure the vehicle safely arrived to geostationary orbit,†said First Lt. Dion Tchokreff, WHS engineer at 4th SOPS.
Tchokreff added the new satellite is built to help boost the signal of the constellation by as much as 17 percent.
