en.Wedoany.com Reported - A satellite built by York Space Systems for the U.S. Space Force has successfully completed a demonstration of two-way tactical communications via an ultra-high frequency (UHF) link in low Earth orbit (LEO).

The test aimed to determine whether communication services currently provided by geostationary orbit (GEO) satellites could be delivered from low orbit. The spacecraft, named "Dragoon," was launched a year ago under a contract with the Space Development Agency (SDA), a subordinate agency of the Space Force that is developing a satellite network plan called the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA) to support military communications and targeting.

York stated that the Dragoon satellite completed five successful demonstrations over three months. The tests included three downlink demonstrations, verifying the spacecraft's ability to transmit data to fixed government ground terminals, and two uplink demonstrations, confirming that most data could be sent back from the ground to the satellite.

UHF communications use relatively small antennas to support mobile users on land, at sea, and in the air, with signals capable of penetrating environments with vegetation or urban obstacles.

The U.S. military has long relied on dedicated UHF communication satellites in geostationary orbit. The Dragoon experiment aimed to test whether such communication services could be provided from smaller satellites operating in orbits closer to Earth.

This mission marked the first on-orbit demonstration of York's larger LX-class spacecraft platform. UHF communication payloads typically require significant power generation and antenna resources, making these tests an early validation of the platform's ability to support more demanding military payloads. The company said it has launched dozens of LX-class satellites since the Dragoon mission.

Denver-based York is one of the largest suppliers to the Space Development Agency and has contracted to build dozens of satellites for the Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture. Melanie Preisser, York's General Manager and Executive Vice President, stated that the ability to establish two-way tactical communications from a LEO platform is a meaningful addition to York's mission set portfolio. She also noted that Dragoon will continue demonstrations in the next quarter as the company evaluates additional capabilities.

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