Hughes’ Jupiter 3 commercial satellite spacecraft is pictured above. The LEO spacecraft being developed for the USSF will likely be similar in size, according to company officials. (Hughes )

Hughes Network Systems is developing a new S-Band satellite communications (satcom) network, to support proliferated-low Earth orbit (P-LEO) requirements outlined by the US Space Force (USSF), a company senior executive told
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The P-LEO service will be provided by OneWeb Technologies and distributed by Hughes, which also designed the entire ground infrastructure for the OneWeb LEO network, said Rick Lober, vice-president of the Government & Defense Division at Hughes. “We’re branding this thing [as] Hughes LEO, kind of like OneWeb inside, and that’ll be one of the standard services” the company will provide the USSF, Lober said during a 7 September interview.

S-Band network as part of a USD900 million indefinite delivery indefinite quantity (IDIQ) contract was issued by USSF as a way to bolster the service’s commercial satcom capabilities. Hughes was one of several commercial satellite companies contracted by USSF as part of the IDIQ deal.