The U.S. Space Force has moved its Enhanced Polar System–Recapitalization program into operational status, extending secure communications for U.S. and allied forces operating in the Arctic into the mid-2030s.
Save your spot at the 2026 Air and Space Summit, hosted by the Potomac Officers Club, to hear government and industry stakeholders discuss developments affecting the air and space mission areas. Scheduled for July 30, the event will feature keynote speakers and panel sessions examining service priorities, emerging technologies and collaboration between the U.S. Air Force, the U.S. Space Force and the private sector.
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What Capabilities Does EPS-R Provide?
EPS-R supports command and control for deployed forces and connectivity for special operations units, combatant commands, and joint operations across land, sea and air domains, Space Systems Command said Wednesday. The system enables the secure transmission of voice, data and multimedia communications, providing increased bandwidth and coverage for operations in the northern polar region compared to the initial EPS payloads.
EPS-R is intended to prevent a gap in Arctic communications as the Space Force transitions to next-generation military satellite communications platforms — the polar variants of the Evolved Strategic SATCOM architecture.
What Infrastructure Supports EPS-R?
The system consists of two extremely high-frequency payloads hosted on Space Norway’s Arctic Satellite Broadband Mission satellites, which launched in 2024 aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California.
It is operated by Space Force units responsible for satellite communications and supported by a Northrop Grumman-led ground segment that manages both legacy and recapitalized systems through a common software baseline.
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