Aerospace and Defense

Air Force Awards Service Support Contract for GPS III SVs
May 31, 2012

Air Force Awards Service Support Contract for GPS III SVs

The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $68 million contract to provide mission readiness, launch, early orbit checkout, and on-orbit operations engineering support for the first two GPS III space vehicles.

Under the contract, Lockheed Martin will provide technical support to the Air Force’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS) and monitor the health and performance of the first two GPS III satellites from launch through their 15-year operational design lives.

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By Inside GNSS
AF Space Commander: GPS III, OCX Delayed
May 30, 2012

AF Space Commander: GPS III, OCX Delayed

Launch of the first GPS III satellite has slipped to 2015 and completion of the ground control system is now delayed by up to two years, according to the chief of the Air Force’s space operations

“We’ll be ready to launch the first GPS III in 2015, but it now appears the next generation GPS Operational Control System, or OCX, won’t be ready for about a year or two after that,” General William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) told attendees at the 28th Annual National Space Symposium.

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By Inside GNSS
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First GPS III Launch Delayed by Up to a Year, OCX by Two Years
May 19, 2012

First GPS III Launch Delayed by Up to a Year, OCX by Two Years

The launch of the first GPS III satellite has slipped to 2015 and completion of the ground control system is now delayed by up to two years, according to the chief of the Air Force’s space operations  

“We’ll be ready to launch the first GPS III in 2015, but it now appears the next generation GPS Operational Control System, or OCX, won’t be ready for about a year or two after that,” General William L. Shelton, commander of Air Force Space Command told attendees at the 28th Annual National Space Symposium.

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By Inside GNSS
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Parts Testing Drives Up GPS III Program Costs, Forces Prime to Forego $70 Million Incentive Fee
April 21, 2012

Parts Testing Drives Up GPS III Program Costs, Forces Prime to Forego $70 Million Incentive Fee

The core structure of the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) stands vertical in Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility. LM photo.

An emphasis on quality assurance in system engineering and components in the first GPS III satellite now under development has driven projected costs up in the program above the budgeted amount, leading the U.S. Air Force to deny a $70 million incentive fee to prime contractor Lockheed Martin.

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By Inside GNSS
Multiple GNSS: Compatibility & Interoperability
April 3, 2012

Multiple GNSS: Compatibility & Interoperability

Dr. Anthony Pratt, Orbstar International Ltd.

In the beginning, there was just the Global Positioning System. But it provided an astounding start to the world of GNSS. 

Since the United States declared full operational capability (FOC) for GPS in 1995, two major things have occurred: 

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By Inside GNSS
GLONASS Plans 30 Satellites, Complete Augmentation System and Improved OCX by 2020
March 30, 2012

GLONASS Plans 30 Satellites, Complete Augmentation System and Improved OCX by 2020

Sergey Revnivykh, GLONASS program, Roscosmos

GLONASS completed its long trek back to full operational capability with 24 operational satellites in the constellation last December, but Russia intends to keep pushing ahead with its GNSS, said Roscosmos official Sergey Revnivykh at the Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in March.

GLONASS now has a 347 billion ruble (US$11.81 billion) budget approved through 2020, by which time the system is scheduled to have 24 satellites transmitting both the new CDMA and legacy FDMA signals.

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By Inside GNSS
Satellite Development Advances as GPS Survives Budget Cuts, LightSquared
March 29, 2012

Satellite Development Advances as GPS Survives Budget Cuts, LightSquared

New GPS III Test Chamber (Lockheed Martin photo)

The United States GPS program is without doubt the elder statesman of GNSS, but it has had some close calls recently.

At the 2012 Munich Satellite Navigation Summit in March, a high-level Department of Transportation offical and the head of the Air Force GPS Directorate hailed continuing progress on the Global Positioning System’s third-generation satellite development and next-generation control segment (OCX), while apparently escaping — relatively unscathed — the dual perils of Congressional budget cuts and LightSquared interference.

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By Inside GNSS
Arrow Prev
March 27, 2012

Galileo GNSS Through Children’s Eyes

Galileo by Irina of Romania

[Updated March 27] We see lots of graphs, schemata, renderings and photographic images of the GNSS satellites and constellations. Perhaps it’s time to rest the eyes with imaginative images of space and satellites through the eyes of children.

Over a number of years, up to 30 of Europe’s Galileo navigation satellites are expected to reach orbit and each of them will be named after a child from one of the 27 European Union countries.

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By Inside GNSS
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