Defense Satellite Communications System

The Defense Satellite Communications System (DSCS) is a currently operational set of satellites and ground stations that provide wideband communications among fixed and semifixed sites. First launched in 1982, the present Phase III provide wideband communications with jamming resistance, although they are not as hardened against jamming or the effects of nuclear weapons as are the present MILSTAR system, or their replacement, the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (AEHF) satellites. AEHF will provide substantially more bandwidt.

DSCS satellites are in geosynchronous orbit (GEO), and have six Super High Frequency (SHF) communications relay channel transponders, plus a seventh channel for transmitting nuclear war orders. DSCS satellites are not cross-linked in space, as is MILSTAR and AEHF.