GPS-related procurement and development items in President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 are moving through Capitol Hill, but not without contention. At issue is Obama’s request for $40.9 million for the High-Integrity Global Position System (HIGPS, also known as iGPS).
GPS-related procurement and development items in President Obama’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2011 are moving through Capitol Hill, but not without contention. At issue is Obama’s request for $40.9 million for the High-Integrity Global Position System (HIGPS, also known as iGPS). Neither the House nor Senate versions of the National Defense Authorization Act support the program, which is intended to demonstrate the capability to use Iridium satellites to enhance current GPS navigation.
Most other pieces of the president’s requests have made their way through the House and their respective Senate committees and are waiting their turn in front of the full Senate.
Obama’s proposed budget would allocate $1.057 billion for Department of Defense (DoD) GPS-related procurement and development activities, and nearly $180 million to the Department of Transportation (DoT) for civil GPS programs.
DoD programs include: $35.471 million for GPS IIF and Operational Control Segment (OCS) development; $828.171 million for GPS IIIA and Next-Generation Operational Control Segment; $122.490 million for advanced procurement of GPS IIIA satellites; $64.609 million for procurement of GPS IIF satellites and launch support; $7.736 million for ground segment equipment procurement and $40.9 million for HIGPS.
As of mid-August, the status of the DoT procurement requests was as follows:
• $58.5 million for the addition of new, civil-unique capabilities to the GPS program — passed at full funding by the full House and Senate committee
• $95 million for the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) — passed at $92 million by the full House and at $95 million by Senate committee
• $14.5 million for the Local Area Augmentation System (LAAS) — passed by the full House at $24.6 million
• $7.6 million for the inland component of the Nationwide Differential GPS System (NDGPS) — passed full House at $9.4 million and Senate Appropriations Committee at $7.4 million.
Procurement requests of $15.4 million for the maritime component of NDGPS are awaiting House Appropriations Committee markup after passing House and Senate subcommittees. Some $3.5 million for the U.S. network of Continuously Operating Reference Stations (CORS) passed its House subcommittee and Senate Committee.
Related stories:
(Aug. 5, 2009) U.S. House of Representatives Trims $97 million from OCX Budget
(July 15, 2009) iGPS Program Reaches Two Milestones
(July 28, 2008) Boeing Wins NRL Contract to Continue Iridium/GPS Development
