US, international partners to bolster global secure communications with updated multinational agreement Published Sept. 12, 2026 Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs ARLINGTON, Va. (AFNS) -- The U.S. Department of War, in partnership with defense ministries from 10 international partners, has signed Amendment Three to the multilateral Wideband Global SATCOM Memorandum of Understanding. This agreement secures funding for the production, operations and support of the 12th satellite in the WGS constellation, or WGS-12. The participation of international partners – Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, and the United Kingdom – will provide $302 million USD in funding to complete the acquisition of WGS-12. This funding covers launch and on-orbit delivery, ground system upgrades, and costs for mission operations. “WGS-12 enhances capabilities for U.S. forces and international partners to maintain secure and resilient command and control, no matter where they are in the fleet and field,” said Erin Carper, acting Space Force Portfolio Acquisition Executive for Satellite Communications (SATCOM) and Positioning, Navigation and Timing. “The signing of Amendment Three makes that possible.” Projected for launch no earlier than 2028, WGS-12 will deliver twice the operational capability of earlier satellites in the constellation. Similar to its predecessor, WGS-11, the new satellite will integrate a Protected Tactical SATCOM Prototype payload. This advance payload enables early operational use of on-board processing for the Protected Tactical Waveform, enabling more resilient communications for tactical warfighters operating in close proximity to jammers. The integration of this payload will not impact the negotiated WGS constellation access, or the allocation of constellation resources pursuant to the WGS Memorandum of Understanding. “Our international partnerships are one of our greatest strategic advantages in the space domain,” said Gentry Stephens, Deputy Under Secretary of the Air Force, International Affairs. “This agreement demonstrates that when we invest together in shared capabilities, we realize a level of global coverage and mission assurance that no single nation could achieve alone.” The multilateral effort promotes international space partnerships in accordance with the 2020 National Space Policy and enables the Space Force to secure national interests in, from and to space by empowering international partners.