Defence launches classified communications satellite

Just days after announcing it had ceased satellite communications (SATCOM) procurement activity in Joint Project 9102, Defence has launched a classified Optus communications satellite into geostationary orbit.

The Optus-X satellite was launched by a SpaceX Falcon 9 booster from Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. It was procured under an ‘opaque’ $405 million contract between Defence and Optus, reports The Australiannewspaper. Further details have not been made available by Defence, Optus or SpaceX.

Early in November this year Defence announced it had ended JP9102, for which Lockheed Martin Australia was named prime contractor in April last year. Defence said that with the acceleration in space technologies and evolving threats in space since the project’s commencement, it had assessed that a single orbit GEO-based satellite communications system would not meet its strategic priorities.

Therefore, instead of a single orbit (geostationary) solution, Defence says it will instead prioritise a multi-orbit capability, presumably to include Low and Medium Earth Orbits (LEO and MEO), increasing resilience for the ADF. However, Defence has made no mention of the Optus-X geostationary satellite and hasn’t disclosed what will replace JP9102 and when it will enter service.