U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin Team Complete GPS III Design Phase Ahead of Schedule
The Lockheed Martin team developing the U.S. Air Force’s next generation Global Positioning System, known as GPS III, has successfully completed the program’s Critical Design Review (CDR) phase two months ahead of schedule. CDR completion, the program’s most significant milestone to-date, validates the detailed GPS III design to ensure it meets warfighter and civil requirements, and allows the program to begin the production phase. View our News Release for event details and quotes.
GPS provides critical situational awareness and precision weapon guidance for the military and supports a wide range of civil, scientific and commercial functions - from air traffic control to navigation systems in cars, cell phones and wristwatches. GPS technology has become a mainstay in our everyday lives and is increasing productivity in many areas, including:
Farming
Mining
Construction
Surveying
Geology
Supply Chain Management
Banking
Mobile Phone Operations
Power Grid Management
Transportation
The system is also enhancing public safety by reducing response times for ambulances, firefighters and other emergency services. Visit www.gps.gov to learn more about the ever expanding GPS applications.
GPS III will improve position, navigation and timing services and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities yielding superior system security, accuracy and reliability. The next generation GPS IIIA satellites will deliver signals three times more accurate than current GPS spacecraft and provide three times more power for military users, while also adding a new civil signal (L1C) that is designed to be interoperable with other global navigation satellite systems.
Under the Development and Production contract, the team of Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, ITT Corporation, and General Dynamics, will produce the first two GPS IIIA satellites with options for up to 10 additional spacecraft. The contract, which features a “back to basics” acquisition approach to low-risk constellation sustainment and technology insertion, includes a Capability Insertion Program (CIP) designed to mature technologies and perform rigorous systems engineering for the future IIIB and IIIC increments planned for follow-on procurements.
Eight GPS IIIB and 16 GPS IIIC satellites are planned for later increments, with each increment including additional capabilities based on technical maturity. When fully deployed, the GPS III constellation will feature a cross-linked command and control architecture, allowing the entire GPS constellation to be updated simultaneously from a single ground station. Additionally, a new spot beam capability for enhanced military (M-Code) coverage and increased resistance to hostile jamming will be incorporated. These enhancements will contribute to improved accuracy and assured availability for military and civilian users worldwide.
For GPS III, Lockheed Martin will build on its proven record of providing progressively advanced spacecraft for the current GPS constellation: the team designed and built 21 GPS IIR satellites for the Air Force and subsequently modernized eight of those spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-M, to enhance operations and navigation signal performance. The current fleet of Block IIR and IIR-M satellites within the overall GPS constellation has reached over 100 cumulative operational years on-orbit with a reliability record of better than 99.9 percent.
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