The House Appropriations Committee approved all but $10 million of the $1.758 billion requested by the White House for the GPS program.
Lawmakers shaved the $10 million from the $462.87 million in spending proposed for the development of the GPS III Follow-On satellites, asserting it was excess to need. That said, they approved all of the $414.63 million requested for GPS IIIF procurement. They also said yes to the $42.44 million sought for GPS III development and the $31.47 million requested for GPS III procurement.
Though the precise amount is unclear, lawmakers did approve some of $30.50 million request for equipment upgrades for the current ground system — the Operational Control Segment (OCS). The money is to go toward replacing parts of the Master Control Station, Alternate Master Control Station and the four Ground Antennas that have become obsolete, unsupportable or require upgrades. Another $429,000 has been approved for repair and/or spare parts.
The largest allocation went to the new ground system, the Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX) and the related GPS Enterprise Integrator. Appropriators agreed to the request for $445.30 million. They also said yes to spending $329.95 on the Military GPS User Equipment (MGUE) program, which is developing receiver cards capable of using the new M-Code and of being more easily integrated into existing military equipment.
