From Syncom to S&IS: SDC's Role in Boeing
Few could have suspected in 1963 what was to spring from Syncom 2. Not only did the 78-pound satellite spark revolutionary advances in communications, it set the stage for SDC to play a pivotal role in numerous Boeing programs in the 2000s.
SDC-formed when The Boeing Company acquired Hughes Electronics Corp.'s space business in 2000-supports an array of Boeing Integrated Defense Systems (IDS) programs. The enterprise's 40 years of experience in communications, defense, and weather-monitoring space systems offers a "one-stop shop" for customers whose mission success might require resources from throughout Boeing "SDC is critical to demonstrating the performance and cost advantages of an Integrated Battlespace architecture," said Roger Roberts, Boeing Senior Vice President of Space & Intelligence Systems (S&IS), referring to one of IDS' most significant growth markets. "We're making the transition from designing stand-alone systems to creating an interoperable environment in which all systems 'plug and play' as part of an information network. This is consistent with approaching programs as systems, not platforms, to create a forum to work with our customers to develop future military and intelligence architectures."
For example, SDC is supporting Future Combat Systems (FCS), a networked family of systems designed to use advanced technologies to integrate manned and unmanned ground and air platforms and sensors and Boeing's first venture into the Integrated Battlespace market. Boeing has entered the systems development and demonstration phase, projected to be worth nearly $15 billion.
S&IS, based in Seal Beach, California, is the center of Boeing's intelligence and space products, which include a range of government surveillance and reconnaissance systems, communication, and security systems. Major S&IS programs include Future Imagery Architecture, a multi-year contract awarded by the National Reconnaissance Office. Other customers include the National Imagery and Mapping Agency.
When SDC joined S&IS in July, the enterprise gained proximity to numerous opportunities in military and intelligence markets. The resulting synergy and transfer of technologies between government and commercial programs will serve SDC well through market cycles.
