Northrop Continues Polar Satcom Ground System Support Under Follow-On Contract

Northrop Grumman started work on a potential 15-month, $23 million follow-on contract to provide operations and maintenance support for the U.S. Air Force’s Enhanced Polar System Control and Planning Segment platform.

The contract that was awarded in September 2017 will run through December, Northrop said Monday.

EPS works to provide troops in the North Polar Region with jam-resistant satellite communications service in support of national security missions, while CAPS is a ground system that transmits mission and cryptographic planning and configuration commands for two polar-orbiting EPS payloads.

“We are proud to serve as a mission partner on EPS CAPS and committed to supporting the Air Force as we prepare for initial operating capacity,” said Kenny Robinson, vice president of strategic force programs at Northrop.

The Air Force officially accepted EPS CAPS by signing the DD-250 document in fall 2017 after the platform met a set of acceptance criteria, including compliance with the Security Technical Implementation Guide.

Northrop secured a five-year contract in 2012 to design, build and test EPS CAPS for the service’s military satellite communications systems directorate.

The company performed development and testing work on the program in California, Florida and Massachusetts.