ESS 1, 2

ESS (Evolved Strategic Satellite) is a series of jam-resistant military communications satellite built by Boeing to supplement and eventually replace the existing Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites, providing survivable, global, secure, protected, and jam-resistant communications for high-priority military operations and national command authorities. ESS satellites will interoperate with, and eventually replace AEHF’s mid-latitude system capability, extending its communications capability to the North Polar region.

Boeing and Northrop Grumman were awarded contracts for developing competing designs for the ESS program in 2020 During the rapid prototyping phase, the companies delivered the preliminary design for ESS’ space segment and a ground-based demonstration by May 2025. In July 2024 Boeing was selected to build the first two satellites with options for two more.

Boeing’s ESS solution is underpinned by technology the company has developed for the WGS-11 and WGS-12 satellites and has already proven on-orbit aboard the commercial O3b mPOWER constellation. Building on these developments, this strategic military communications satellite constellation will be equipped with flexible and resilient signals to protect against interruption or interception.