Being developed by the United States Department of Defense, Canadian Department of National Defence, and the Australian Department of Defence, the Wideband Global SATCOM (WGS)-11+ communications satellite now goes on to its final system design phase before Boeing begins production in 2024.

The WGS is one example of how space is becoming, in many ways, the battleground of the future. Not in the sense of flashing laser beams and satellites exploding (although there is that unpleasant possibility), but in how the major military powers and alliances are becoming increasingly dependent on space-based technology for communications, reconnaissance, intelligence gathering, weather monitoring, and much more. As a result, a space arms race is as much a matter of capturing the communications high ground as it is about war fighting.