Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
L3Harris Technologies recently delivered the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3) space vehicle to an Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) integration test facility at the Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico—an important step toward the satellite’s anticipated late 2023 launch.
By Inside GNSS
On Wednesday morning, the GPS III Space Vehicle 06 (GPS III SV06) was launched from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida and the satellite successfully deployed. The satellite, the sixth designed and built by Lockheed Martin, will enhance accuracy and anti-jamming capability, helping to modernize the U.S. Space Force’s GPS constellation.
By Renee Knight
A “non-recurring design validation” of a previously flown SpaceX Falcon 9 booster will be completed by the end of this month, in time to carry the next GPSIII satellite aloft, according to U.S. Space Force executive officer.
By Inside GNSS
The U.S. Space Force ordered replacement of the computer hardware in the new GPS ground system due to the due to the sale of IBM’s computer product line to a Chinese company, and the consequent cybersecurity risk posed by the IBM hardware in use.
By Dee Ann Divis
When the White House submits its budget request for the Department of Defense to Congress every year, that is not the final word. The different military services also send Congress their unfunded priority lists, which detail the projects the White House chose to forego but, the services hope, Congress will add back in. This year several of those priorities are GPS-related.
By Dee Ann Divis
The Pentagon Friday released its proposal for enabling legislation to create a Space Force, a new military branch expected to eventually comprise some 15,000 personnel.
“Establishing a Space Force is a strategic priority to facilitate the DOD’s preparation for the character of warfare in the twenty-first century,” the Department of Defense (DOD) wrote in an overview. “A sixth branch of the Armed Forces dedicated to space will catalyze a fundamental transformation of our approach to space from a combat support function to a domain of competition and potential conflict.”
By Dee Ann Divis
With the swipe of a pen President Donald Trump set in motion the creation of a U.S. Space Force to help boost and focus efforts to defend U.S. space assets as other nations build out their capacity to cripple America’s on-orbit capabilities.
By Dee Ann Divis
