DENVER, June 11, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The next step
in modernizing the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite
constellation with new technology and capabilities is happening
from the ground up!
On May 22, Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT) delivered the GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) software
upgrade to the U.S. Air Force's current GPS ground control system.
The upgrade will enable the Air Force to start commanding the new,
next-generation GPS III satellites now coming off the production
line and beginning to launch.
And the new GPS III satellites are coming. The first GPS
III satellite launched in December
2018; the second GPS III shipped to Cape Canaveral in
March for a July launch; and the Air Force, on May 17, declared the third new GPS III "Available
for Launch" next.
The challenge was modernizing the current ground system –
formally known as the GPS Architecture Evolution Plan Operational
Control System (AEP OCS) -- to fly the legacy constellation, as
well as the new, modern GPS III satellites, until the next
generation Operational Control System (OCX) Block 1, still in
development, is delivered.
To address this, in 2016, the Air Force contracted Lockheed
Martin to develop the GPS III COps program. Currently, the AEP OCS
controls 31 GPS IIA, IIR, IIR-M and IIF satellites launched between
1993-2016. With the AEP OCS' new GPS III COps upgrade, the Air
Force will be able to command and control both the legacy
satellites, as well the more powerful GPS III satellites.
"Positioning, Navigation and Timing is a critical mission for
our nation and COps will allow the Air Force to gain early access
to its new GPS III satellites," said Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin's vice
president for Navigation Systems. "We just finished Final
Qualification Testing and delivery on COps, and it will be
integrated and installed on the AEP OCS over the summer. We look
forward to the Air Force 'flying' a GPS constellation on the COps
OCS which includes the new GPS III satellites, later this
year."
Meanwhile, the first GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV01),
launched in December 2018, is
finishing up pre-operational on-orbit check-out. It continues to be
controlled by OCX Block 0 software installed at Lockheed Martin's
GPS III Launch and Checkout Center at the company's Denver facility. GPS III SV01 is expected to
be "handed over" to the COps OCS later this year after the legacy
constellation is moved over to the updated AEP OCS.
Lockheed Martin has sustained the AEP OCS since 2013. In
November 2018, the company completed
the AEP 7.5 upgrade -- the largest architectural change in the
systems history -- replacing significant code, hardware and
software to improve the system's cybersecurity capabilities and
positioning the Air Force to better operate in contested, degraded
and operationally limited environments.
In December
2018, the Air Force awarded Lockheed
Martin the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS
II) contract to continue to further modernize and sustain the
AEP OCS through 2025. In 2020, the AEP OCS is expected to receive
the M-Code Early Use (MCEU) upgrade, which will allow control of
M-Code, an advanced, new signal designed to improve
anti-jamming and anti-spoofing, as well as to increase secure
access to military GPS signals for U.S. and allied armed
forces.
Lockheed Martin is under contract to develop and build up to 32
GPS III/IIIF satellites. GPS III will deliver three times better
accuracy and provide up to eight times improved anti-jamming
capabilities. GPS III's new L1C civil signal will make it the first
GPS satellite to be interoperable with other international global
navigation satellite systems. Additional "IIIF" capabilities,
beginning at the 11th satellite, will include a fully
digital navigation payload, Regional Military Protection, an
accuracy-enhancing laser retroreflector array, and a Search &
Rescue payload.
For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit:
www.lockheedmartin.com/gps.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda,
Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
105,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin