GPS

USAF Draft RFP Would Re-Open Competition for GPS Satellite Launch Services

GPS Block IIF-5 on its way from Cape Canaveral on February 20, 2014. Photo by Ben Cooper, United Launch Alliance

[Updated May 26, 2015] The U.S. Air Force released a draft request for proposal (RFP) yesterday (May 13, 2015) for GPS III Launch Services, including launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations. The Space Exploration Technologies Corporation — better known as SpaceX and headed by Elon Musk — may well enter the competition.

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Lockheed Completes Integration of First GPS III Spacecraft

In April, Lockheed Martin fully integrated the U.S. Air Force’s first next-generation GPS III satellite at the company’s Denver, Colorado–area satellite manufacturing facility. The first in a design block of new, more powerful and accurate GPS satellites, GPS III Space Vehicle One is now preparing for system-level testing this summer. Lockheed Martin photo

Lockheed Martin has finally been able to announce victory in its effort to complete integration of the first GPS Block III satellite.

Integration took place last month at the company’s GPS III Processing Facility near Denver, Colorado, bringing together the system module — which includes the navigation payload that performs the primary positioning, navigation, and timing mission — the functional bus containing the electronics that manage all satellite operations, and the propulsion core that enables the satellite to maneuver for operations on orbit.

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