New Facility Brings Satellite Contractors, Customers Closer Together

Compiled ByDave Schafer Satellite industry contractors and their U.S. government customers are working side-by-side at the new Boeing Satellite Systems Inc. facility on the El Segundo, Calif., campus. The facility, a newly renovated eight-story office building adjacent to Boeing Satellites' headquarters, has been retrofitted with fiber-optics and a conference and event center equipped with state-of-the-art audio/visual, videoconferencing, and presentation equipment, Boeing says. According to the company, a unit of The Boeing Co., the facility houses several key military satellite communications programs, notably the Ultra High Frequency Follow-On program, for which Boeing is under contract for 11 satellites; Milstar; Advanced Extremely High Frequency; and Wideband Gapfiller Satellite, a multi-satellite Dept. of Defense (DoD) communications system. Boeing Satellite Systems President Randy Brinkley says the company's $7.6 million investment in customizing the facility reflects the steady growth in Boeing's DoD/Civil Programs units. "We made a concerted effort to anticipate the needs of our DoD and government customers in the plans for this facility," Brinkley says. "Now our customers from the Los Angeles Air Force Base and other local installations can attend program-design reviews and other gatherings in a comfortable, up-to-date BSS facility that was designed specifically for the needs of their programs."