WGS Satellite Successfully Launched

The eighth Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS) satellite has been successfully launched into space.

The United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket soared from Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Dec. 7 at 6:53 p.m. EST. 

"WGS-8, the second Block II Follow-on satellite, supports communications links in the X-band and Ka-band spectra," a United Launch Alliance announcement said. "The WGS-8 satellite will be able filter and downlink up to 8.088 GHz of bandwidth. WGS satellites are an important element of a new high-capacity satellite communications system providing enhanced communications capability to our troops in the field."

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