AEHF-6 (USA 298)

AEHF-6, catalogued by NORAD as object 45465 and internationally designated 2020-022B, is a military communications satellite launched on March 25, 2020. Operated by the United States Space Force and built by Lockheed Martin Space, it represents the final satellite delivered under the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) program — a constellation designed to provide secure, jam-resistant communications for the highest levels of United States and allied military command. The satellite is also identified under the cover designation USA-298, consistent with the naming convention applied to sensitive national security payloads.

Mission and Purpose

The AEHF program was developed as a direct successor to the Milstar satellite communications system, which had served the United States military since the 1990s. Where Milstar established the principle of survivable, protected communications for strategic and tactical users alike, the AEHF constellation expanded on that foundation substantially — offering significantly greater data throughput while retaining the emphasis on resistance to jamming, nuclear effects, and interception that defined Milstar's design philosophy.

AEHF satellites are intended to support nuclear command-and-control communications, battlefield management, and high-priority data links for users including the President, Secretary of Defense, and senior military commanders. The network also serves allied nations; Canada, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Australia have been participants in the program, integrating AEHF-compatible terminals into their own military infrastructure.

As the sixth and final satellite in the series, AEHF-6 completed the operational constellation. A six-satellite architecture provides overlapping coverage that enhances both redundancy and global reach, ensuring that communications links can be maintained even if individual nodes are degraded or threatened. The specific mission parameters and current operational status of AEHF-6 are not publicly recorded in the satellite catalog, which is consistent with the classification level typical of strategic communications assets of this nature.

Orbit and Tracking

AEHF-6 occupies a geostationary transfer region, currently settled into a near-geostationary orbit. According to tracked orbital elements, the satellite has an apogee of 35,976 km and a perigee of 35,612 km, placing it very close to the approximately 35,786 km altitude associated with true geostationary orbit. Its orbital inclination is 2.6°, a slight departure from the equatorial plane that causes the satellite to trace a small figure-eight path — known as an analemma — relative to a fixed point on the ground. This minor inclination is not unusual for operational geosynchronous satellites and does not meaningfully impair their communications function. The orbital period of 1,436.1 minutes is nearly synchronous with Earth's rotation, which is the defining characteristic of geostationary and geosynchronous orbit classes.

At this altitude, AEHF-6 is far beyond low Earth orbit and operates in a regime where atmospheric drag is negligible. As of the current catalog data, the satellite remains in orbit with no recorded decay or reentry date, consistent with the operational lifetime expectations for a geosynchronous communications satellite of this class. Objects placed in geostationary orbit are typically maneuvered at the end of their service lives to a higher "graveyard" orbit to vacate the valuable geostationary belt, though no such transition has been publicly confirmed for this satellite.

The satellite's NORAD catalog ID of 45465 allows it to be tracked and identified in conjunction databases and two-line element (TLE) sets maintained by the 18th Space Control Squadron and related organizations. Its international designator, 2020-022B, encodes the fact that it was the second tracked object associated with the twenty-second launch of 2020.

Design and Operator

AEHF-6 was manufactured by Lockheed Martin Space, which served as the prime contractor for the entire AEHF satellite series. The satellite has a launch mass of 6,168 kg, placing it among the heavier class of military communications satellites. Lockheed Martin's A2100 satellite bus, which underpins the AEHF design, is a mature and extensively flight-proven platform that has hosted a wide variety of commercial and government payloads over multiple decades.

The AEHF satellites are equipped with crosslink capability, meaning they can relay communications directly between satellites rather than requiring every signal to pass through a ground station. This architecture significantly enhances survivability and operational flexibility, particularly in scenarios where ground infrastructure might be disrupted. The payload suite includes extremely high frequency (EHF) uplink capability and super-high frequency (SHF) downlink channels, supporting a range of terminal types across different services and allied nations.

The operating authority for AEHF-6 is the United States Space Force, the branch of the U.S. Armed Forces established in December 2019 and responsible for organizing, training, and equipping space forces. AEHF-6 was among the first major national security space launches to occur after the Space Force's formal establishment, and it was processed and launched under the organizational transition from the former Air Force Space Command. The satellite was launched from Cape Canaveral aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket in the 551 configuration — a variant known for its high-performance capability suited to delivering heavy payloads to geosynchronous transfer orbit.

Program Significance and Legacy

The completion of the AEHF constellation with the launch of AEHF-6 marked the closing of a decades-long effort to modernize the United States' most critical military communications infrastructure. The Milstar system it replaced had been revolutionary in its time, but its relatively limited data rates became a constraint as the demands of modern warfare grew. The AEHF program addressed this limitation while preserving and enhancing the nuclear-hardening and anti-jam characteristics that make the constellation indispensable to strategic deterrence posture.

Within the broader context of national security space, the AEHF program is often cited as a centerpiece of protected military satellite communications (MILSATCOM). The constellation supports users across all branches of the U.S. military and contributes to multinational interoperability through agreements with allied nations who have invested in compatible ground terminals and systems. The satellite's role in linking the most senior national command authorities to operational forces — under conditions ranging from peacetime to the most severe contingencies — gives it a strategic importance that few other space assets can claim.

Looking forward, the United States Space Force has been developing the next generation of protected communications satellites under the Evolved Strategic SATCOM (ESS) program, which is intended to succeed the AEHF architecture in the coming decades. The AEHF constellation, including AEHF-6, is expected to remain operational as a bridge capability until next-generation systems mature and achieve operational status. The durability and design margins built into the AEHF satellites mean that AEHF-6 and its siblings are likely to remain viable contributors to protected communications well into the future.

Observability and Tracking

As a geostationary-class satellite, AEHF-6 does not rise and set in the way that low Earth orbit satellites do. From a fixed point on the ground, it appears essentially stationary against the sky — or traces a very slow, small loop due to its 2.6° inclination — making traditional naked-eye satellite tracking passes inapplicable. At an orbital altitude of approximately 35,976 km at apogee, it is far too faint for casual visual observation under any typical circumstances.

AEHF-6 can, however, be identified and monitored through catalog-based tools. Its NORAD ID of 45465 can be used to query current TLE data and plot its position in satellite tracking applications. Because of its near-geostationary orbit, its ground track longitude position — determined by whichever orbital slot the Space Force has assigned to it — remains broadly consistent over time. The precise operational longitude of the satellite is not reflected in publicly released catalog data, as this information is operationally sensitive. Observers with radio equipment operating in appropriate frequency bands may in principle detect its transmissions, but the protected and encrypted nature of AEHF communications makes meaningful signal analysis effectively impossible without authorized access.

For most users of this site, AEHF-6 is best treated as a catalog reference object: its orbital parameters confirm it remains in its intended geosynchronous regime, and its tracking entry serves as a historical and technical record of one of the United States military's most consequential communications assets.