Ten allied governments have agreed to cover $302M of the cost of the U.S. Space Force’s next wideband communications satellite, closing a funding gap for a spacecraft that will not fly before 2028.
The contribution, announced by the Space Force on Sept. 12 and spotlighted two days later at the Air and Space Forces Association’s conference in Maryland, pays for launch, ground-system upgrades and ongoing operations of WGS-12, the latest Boeing-built satellite in the Wideband Global SATCOM constellation.
WGS serves as a high-capacity backbone for military voice, data and video traffic, and the program has long leaned on partner nations to offset its costs. That arrangement has grown more valuable as commanders worry about jamming and interference in contested theaters.
The funding milestone landed the same day Air Force Secretary Troy Meink confirmed that space control weapons are deployed in orbit, underscoring how communications resilience and offensive capability are being pursued in parallel.
