Reports indicate that an agreement on the deal between Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Air Force for new military communications satellites is unlikely to be reached before the end of the year.
According to the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in northwest China's Gobi Desert, the satellite was delivered into its correct orbit by a Long March 2D rocket.
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is calling for submissions to replace its 200-276 Mbps wireless technology, Common Data Link, currently used for military communications.