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| First Modernized GPS Satellite Built By Lockheed Martin Launched
The U.S. Air Force has launched, and safely inserted into orbit, the
first modernized Global Positioning System satellite, built by
Lockheed Martin, aboard a Delta II rocket on Sept. 25, from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
The satellite is the most technologically advanced GPS satellite ever
developed and will provide significantly improved navigation
performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide.
The satellite, designated GPS IIR-14 (M), is the first in a series of
eight GPS IIR satellites that Lockheed Martin is modernizing for its
customer at the Navstar GPS Joint Program Office, Space and Missile
Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif.
The modernized series will offer a variety of enhanced features for
GPS users, such as a modernized antenna panel that provides increased
signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for
improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities
for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide civil
users with an open access signal on a different frequency.
The current GPS constellation of 28 spacecraft includes 12 fully
operational Block IIR satellites, which were developed to improve
global coverage and increase the overall performance of the global
positioning system.
The Global Positioning System enables properly equipped users to
determine precise time and velocity and worldwide latitude, longitude
and altitude to within a few meters.
Air Force Space Command's 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS), based
at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., manages and operates the GPS
constellation for both civil and military users. GPS IIR-M production
occurs at Lockheed Martin facilities in Valley Forge, Pa. The
modernized navigation payload is provided by ITT Industries in
Clifton, N.J.
http://www.physorg.com/news6762.html
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