DENVER, Dec. 13, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- The first
advanced GPS III satellite successfully established remote
connectivity and communicated with the Next Generation Operational
Control System (OCX), further validating the U.S. Air Force's
modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) is ready to launch its
first satellite.
On November 2, 2017, GPS III Space
Vehicle 01 (GPS III SV01), the first of 10 GPS III satellites
designed by Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT), and OCX, being developed
by Raytheon Corporation (NYSE: RTN), successfully completed Factory
Mission Readiness Testing (FMRT).
The FMRT validated the command and control interaction between
GPS III and the OCX's Launch and Checkout System (LCS) through a
simulated full launch and early orbit mission event sequence.
During this end-to-end system demonstration, command signals
were sent from the latest OCX LCS software installed at Lockheed
Martin's Launch and Check Out Capability node in Denver to Schriever Air Force Base in
Colorado Springs, Colorado. From
there, the commands were uplinked back to the GPS III SV01
satellite, currently awaiting a call up for launch at Lockheed
Martin.
"During FMRT, GPS III SV01 received and successfully processed
OCX commands that are routinely sent during launch, transfer orbit
maneuvers, deployments and payload initialization," said
Mark Stewart, Lockheed Martin's vice
president for Navigation Systems. "We thoroughly tested the first
GPS III satellite just like we are going to fly it in 2018."
GPS III SV01 and OCX first "talked" to each other during a link
check on October 3, 2017.
"This was the first time the launch and checkout system directly
interfaced with the GPS III satellite," said Bill Sullivan, vice president of Raytheon's GPS
OCX program. "We're making consistent, steady progress, and that's
driving us toward a successful launch next year."
The demo further verifies the space-to-ground compatibility
between GPS III satellites and OCX. During a 2013 Compatibility
& Integration test, Lockheed Martin's GPS III Nonflight
Satellite Testbed (GNST) ā a full-sized, functional satellite
prototype ā also connected with and received commands from an
earlier version of Raytheon's OCX LCS software.
On September 22, 2017, the Air
Force declared GPS III SV01 "Available for Launch," with launch
expected in 2018. The successful FMRT was the final validation that
GPS III SV01 is ready to be shipped to the launch pad.
GPS III will have three times better accuracy and up to eight
times improved anti-jamming capabilities. Spacecraft life will
extend to 15 years, 25 percent longer than the newest GPS
satellites on-orbit today. GPS III's new L1C civil signal also will
make it the first GPS satellite to be interoperable with other
international global navigation satellite systems, like
Galileo.
OCX will revolutionize GPS command and control and mission
management capabilities. It will control all legacy and new
signals, provide protection against evolving cyber threats, and
reduce operation and sustainment costs through efficient software
architecture, automation and performance-based logistics. OCX
represents a quantum leap in capabilities over the current system,
providing flexibility and adaptability to meet future GPS mission
needs.
The GPS III and OCX teams are led by the Global Positioning
Systems Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems
Center. Air Force Space Command's 2nd Space Operations Squadron
(2SOPS), based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, manages and operates the GPS
constellation for both civil and military users.
For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit:
www.lockheedmartin.com/gps.
For more OCX information visit:
www.raytheon.com/capabilities/products/gps_ocx/
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
97,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research,
design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of
advanced technology systems, products and services.
About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2016 sales of $24 billion and
63,000 employees, is a technology and innovation leader
specializing in defense, civil government and cybersecurity
solutions. With a history of innovation spanning 95 years, Raytheon
provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration,
C5Iā¢ products and services, sensing, effects, and mission support
for customers in more than 80 countries. Raytheon is
headquartered in Waltham, Massachusetts. Follow us on Twitter.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin