
The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is a
United States Space Force
The United States Space Force (USSF) is the space force branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces, armed forces of the United States and one of the eight uniformed services of the Unite ...
narrowband
Narrowband signals are signals that occupy a narrow range of frequencies or that have a small fractional bandwidth. In the audio spectrum, ''narrowband sounds'' are sounds that occupy a narrow range of frequencies. In telephony, narrowband is ...
military
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...
communications satellite
A communications satellite is an artificial satellite that relays and amplifies radio telecommunication signals via a Transponder (satellite communications), transponder; it creates a communication channel between a source transmitter and a Rad ...
system that supports a worldwide, multi-service population of users in the
ultra high frequency
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
(UHF) band. The system provides increased communications capabilities to newer, smaller terminals while still supporting interoperability with legacy terminals. MUOS is designed to support users who require greater mobility, higher
bit rate
In telecommunications and computing, bit rate (bitrate or as a variable ''R'') is the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time.
The bit rate is expressed in the unit bit per second (symbol: bit/s), often in conjunction ...
s and improved operational availability. The MUOS was declared fully operational for use in 2019.
Overview
The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS), through a constellation of five satellites (four operational satellites and one on-orbit spare), provides global narrowband connectivity to terminals, platforms, tactical operators and operations centers. The system replaces the slower and less mobile 1990s-era
Ultra High Frequency Follow-On (UFO) satellite communication system. MUOS primarily serves the
United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
(DoD); although, international allies' use has been declined in the past. Primarily for mobile users (e.g. aerial and maritime platforms, ground vehicles, and dismounted soldiers), MUOS extend users' voice, data, and video communications beyond their lines-of-sight at data rates up to 384
kbit/s
In telecommunications, data transfer rate is the average number of bits ( bitrate), characters or symbols ( baudrate), or data blocks per unit time passing through a communication link in a data-transmission system. Common data rate units are mu ...
.
[ ]
The
U.S. Navy's Communications Satellite Program Office (PMW 146) of the Program Executive Office (PEO) for Space Systems in
San Diego
San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
, is lead developer for the MUOS program.
[ ] Lockheed Martin Space is the prime system contractor and satellite designer for MUOS under U.S. Navy Contract N00039-04-C-2009, which was announced on 24 September 2004.
[ ][DoD Contract Awards for September 24, 2004](_blank)
/ref> Key subcontractors include General Dynamics Mission Systems (Ground Transport architecture), Boeing
The Boeing Company, or simply Boeing (), is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product support s ...
(Legacy
Legacy or Legacies may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
Comics
* " Batman: Legacy", a 1996 Batman storyline
* '' DC Universe: Legacies'', a comic book series from DC Comics
* ''Legacy'', a 1999 quarterly series from Antarctic Press
* ''Legacy ...
UFO and portions of the WCDMA payload) and Harris (deployable mesh reflectors). The program delivered five satellites, four ground stations, and a terrestrial transport network at a cost of US$7.34 billion.[ ]
Each satellite in the MUOS constellation carries two payloads: a legacy communications payload to maintain Department of Defense narrowband communications during the transition to MUOS, and the advanced MUOS Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA) capability, according to Naval Information Warfare Systems Command (NAVWAR).
WCDMA system
MUOS WCDMA radios can transmit simultaneous voice, video and mission data on an Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol (IP) is the network layer communications protocol in the Internet protocol suite for relaying datagrams across network boundaries. Its routing function enables internetworking, and essentially establishes the Internet.
IP ...
-based system connected to military networks. MUOS radios operate from anywhere around the world at speeds comparable to 3G smartphones. MUOS radios can also work under dense cover, such as jungle canopies and urban settings. The MUOS operates as a global cellular service provider to support the warfighter
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer.
Etymology
The wo ...
with modern cell phone
A mobile phone or cell phone is a portable telephone that allows users to make and receive calls over a radio frequency link while moving within a designated telephone service area, unlike fixed-location phones ( landline phones). This radio ...
-like capabilities, such as multimedia
Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms, such as Text (literary theory), writing, Sound, audio, images, animations, or video, into a single presentation. T ...
. It converts a commercial third generation (3G) Wideband Code Division Multiple Access
The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a 3G mobile cellular system for networks based on the GSM standard. UMTS uses wideband code-division multiple access (W-CDMA) radio access technology to offer greater spectral efficiency ...
(WCDMA) cellular phone system to a military UHF SATCOM radio system using geosynchronous satellites in place of cell towers. By operating in the Ultra high frequency
Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...
(UHF) frequency band, a lower frequency band than that used by conventional terrestrial cellular network
A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless network, wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-locatio ...
s, the MUOS provides warfighters with the tactical ability to communicate in "disadvantaged" environments, such as heavily forested regions where higher frequency signals would be unacceptably attenuated by the forest canopy. Connections may be set up on demand by users in the field, within seconds, and then released just as easily, freeing resources for other users. In alignment with more traditional military communications methods, pre-planned networks can also be established either permanently or per specific schedule using the MUOS' ground-based Network Management Center.
Legacy payload
In addition to the cellular MUOS WCDMA payload, a fully capable and separate UFO legacy payload is incorporated into each satellite. The "legacy" payload extends the useful life of legacy UHF SATCOM terminals and enables a smoother transition to MUOS.
Launches
MUOS-1, after several weather delays, was launched into space successfully on 24 February 2012, at 22:15:00 UTC, carried by an Atlas V
Atlas V is an expendable launch system and the fifth major version in the Atlas (rocket family), Atlas launch vehicle family. It was developed by Lockheed Martin and has been operated by United Launch Alliance (ULA) since 2006. Primarily used to ...
launch vehicle
A launch vehicle is typically a rocket-powered vehicle designed to carry a payload (a crewed spacecraft or satellites) from Earth's surface or lower atmosphere to outer space. The most common form is the ballistic missile-shaped multistage ...
flying in its 551 configuration.
MUOS-2 was launched on schedule on 19 July 2013, at 13:00:00 UTC
Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...
aboard an Atlas V 551 (AV-040).
MUOS-3 was launched on board a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicle on 20 January 2015, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the sta ...
(CCAFS), Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
.
MUOS-4 arrived at Cape Canaveral on 31 July 2015. Weather conditions pushed back the launch, which was originally scheduled for on 31 August 2015, at 10:07 UTC. The launch took place on 2 September 2015, at 10:18:00 UTC.
MUOS-5 arrived at Cape Canaveral on 9 March 2016. Launch was originally scheduled for on 5 May 2016, but due to an internal investigation into an Atlas V fuel system problem during the Cygnus OA-6 launch on 22 March 2016, the scheduled date was pushed back. The launch took place on 24 June 2016, at 14:30:00 UTC. An "anomaly" aboard the satellite occurred a few days later, however, when it was still in a Geostationary Transfer Orbit
In space mission design, a geostationary transfer orbit (GTO) or geosynchronous transfer orbit is a highly elliptical type of geocentric orbit, usually with a perigee as low as low Earth orbit (LEO) and an apogee as high as geostationary orbit ...
(GTO), leaving it "Reconfigured into Safe Intermediate Orbit", or stranded in GTO. Amateur observers tracked it in an orbit of approximately since 3 July 2016. On 3 November 2016, the Navy announced that the satellite has finally reached operational orbit.
MUOS operational positions
The four currently operational MUOS satellites are stationed at longitude 100° West (MUOS-1); 177° West (MUOS-2); 16° West (MUOS-3); and 75° East (MUOS-4). MUOS-5 is a spare satellite now orbiting over the Continental US. They have a 5° orbital inclination. In the first few months after launch, the satellites were temporarily parked in a check-out position at longitude 172° West.
MUOS ground stations
The MUOS includes four ground station facilities.[ Site selections were completed in 2007 with the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between the U.S. Navy and the Australian Department of Defence. The four ground stations, each of which serves one of the four active satellites of the MUOS constellation will be located at: the Australian Defence Satellite Communications Station at Kojarena, Western Australia about 30 km east of Geraldton, Western Australia; Naval Radio Transmitter Facility (NRTF) Niscemi about 60 km from Naval Air Station Sigonella, ]Sicily
Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
; Naval SATCOM Facility, Northwest Chesapeake, Southeast Virginia at ; and the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Area Master Station Pacific, Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...
.
Controversy
Construction of the ground station in Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
was halted for nearly half of 2012 by protesters concerned with health risks and environmental damage by radio waves. One scientific study "point to serious risks to people and the environment, such as to prevent its realization in densely populated areas, like the one adjacent to the town of Niscemi". In spite of the controversy, the site at Niscemi was completed in anticipation of the launch of MUOS-4.
Radio terminals
The MUOS waveform with complete red/black operational capability was released in 2012. Until the Joint Tactical Radio System
The Joint Tactical Radio System (JTRS) aimed to replace existing radios in the American military with a single set of software-defined radios that could have new frequencies and modes (“waveforms”) added via upload, instead of requiring mu ...
(JTRS) program cancellation in 2011, the JTRS program would provide the DoD terminals that can communicate with the MUOS WCDMA waveform
In electronics, acoustics, and related fields, the waveform of a signal is the shape of its Graph of a function, graph as a function of time, independent of its time and Magnitude (mathematics), magnitude Scale (ratio), scales and of any dis ...
with a series of form-factor models. The JTRS Handheld, Manpack and Small Form Fit (HMS) AN/PRC-155 manpack built by General Dynamics Mission Systems survived the wider JTRS program cancellation and has shipped several low rate of initial production (LRIP) units. Rockwell Collins
Rockwell Collins, Inc. was a multinational corporation headquartered in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, providing avionics and information technology systems and services to government agencies and aircraft manufacturers. It was formed when the Collins Radi ...
AN/ARC-210 airborne terminal and Harris Corporation
Harris Corporation was an American technology company, defense contractor, and information technology service (economics), services provider that produced wireless equipment, tactical radios, electronic systems, night vision device, night visi ...
AN/PRC-117G. Manpack have also been certified for operation on the MUOS system.
Arctic and Antarctic capabilities
Lockheed Martin and an industry team of radio vendors demonstrated extensive Arctic communications reach near the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is the point in the Northern Hemisphere where the Earth's rotation, Earth's axis of rotation meets its surface. It is called the True North Pole to distingu ...
, believed to be the most northerly successful call to a geosynchronous satellite. WCDMA calls to the far north will be increasingly important where there has been an increase in shipping, resource exploration and tourism without much improvement in secure satellite communications access. Based on these and continued tests, full coverage of the Northwest Passage
The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea lane between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, near the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Arctic Archipelago of Canada. The eastern route along the Arctic ...
and Northeast Passage
The Northeast Passage (abbreviated as NEP; , ) is the Arctic shipping routes, shipping route between the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic and Pacific Ocean, Pacific Oceans, along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Russia. The western route through the islan ...
shipping lanes is expected. Several follow-on tests with high quality voice and data including streaming video have occurred in both the Arctic
The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...
and Antarctic
The Antarctic (, ; commonly ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the South Pole, lying within the Antarctic Circle. It is antipodes, diametrically opposite of the Arctic region around the North Pole.
The Antar ...
, including a 2015 demonstration from McMurdo Station
McMurdo Station is an American Antarctic research station on the southern tip of Ross Island. It is operated by the United States through the United States Antarctic Program (USAP), a branch of the National Science Foundation. The station is ...
.Researchers take high-bandwidth communications to the South Pole
/ref>
See also
* Global Information Grid
The Global Information Grid (GIG), now referred to as the Department of Defense Information Network (DODIN), refers to the entire network of information transmission and processing capabilities maintained by the United States Department of Defens ...
* Network-centric warfare
Network-centric warfare, also called network-centric operations or net-centric warfare, is a military doctrine or theory of war that aims to translate an information advantage, enabled partly by information technology, into a competitive advantag ...
References
External links
MUOS 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
*
{{Orbital launches in 2016
Equipment of the United States Space Force
G
Military space program of the United States
Lockheed Martin
General Dynamics Mission Systems
MUOS
The Mobile User Objective System (MUOS) is a United States Space Force narrowband military satellite, military communications satellite system that supports a worldwide, multi-service population of users in the ultra high frequency (UHF) band. ...