abstract:Milstar, originally meaning Military Strategic and Tactical Relay, is a constellation of communications satellites in geostationary orbit, which are operated by the United States Air Force, and provide secure and jam resistant worldwide communications to meet the requirements of the Armed Forces of the United States. Six spacecraft were launched between 1994 and 2003, of which five are operational, and the sixth was lost in a launch failure.
Evidence provided by the Iraqi incursion that this country may still face formidable adversaries far from home, equipped with modern military capabilities, should put to rest arguments that such conflicts are things of the past and that sophisticated, jam-resistant C3 systems like MILSTAR are no longer necessary.