A team from the 45th Space Wing has successfully launched the first Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite with the mission of providing secure, protected communications capability across a wide spectrum of military mission areas, including land, sea and air warfare.

Undersecretary of the Air Force Erin Conaton calls the launch "historic." Its benefits, he says, will be felt in special operations, strategic nuclear deterrence, strategic defense, theater missile defense and space operations and intelligence.

The 45th Space Wing's mission is to assure access to - what they call - the higher frontier and to support global military operations by delivering space effects that protect and defend the nation through global vigilance, reach and power.