GPS World

Tag: contract

  • U.S. Air Force contracts Lockheed Martin for GPS ground control

    U.S. Air Force contracts Lockheed Martin for GPS ground control

    GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract continues the modernization of the GPS Operational Control Segment (OCS).

    The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract to continue to sustain and further modernize the GPS constellation’s ground control system through 2025.

    This is a follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin’s current GCS contract, awarded in 2013.

    Under the GCS II contract, the continued upgrade of the GPS Architecture Evolution Plan Operational Control Segment (AEP OCS) will allow GPS’ legacy ground control system to support GPS III satellite on-orbit operations, developed under the GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) program.

    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket orbited the first GPS III satellite on Dec. 23, 2018. (Photo: SpaceX)
    SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket orbited the first GPS III satellite on Dec. 23, 2018. (Photo: SpaceX)

    COps will enable the AEP OCS to support the positioning, navigation and timing missions of the Air Force’s new GPS III satellites, which began launching in December 2018.

    In addition, GCS II will sustain the operational M-code capability being deployed in 2020 that is in development under the M-code Early Use (MCEU) contract. Operational M-code is a critical warfighter capability to support missions in contested environments.

    Under the GCS contract, Lockheed Martin executed numerous engineering modifications to the OCS, including:

    • the COTS Upgrade 3(CUP3)/Ground Antenna Air Force Satellite Control Network (AFSCN) Interface Technology Refresh (GAITR) upgrade
    • the Remote Site COTS Network (RSCN) project
    • the GPS Information Protection Reinforcement (GIPR) project
    • the COTS Upgrade #2 (CUP2) project
    • Red Dragon Cybersecurity Suite (RDCSS).

    These projects modernized the infrastructure, improved the cyber posture and added mission capability. The GCS II contract continues that commitment to evolving the OCS to address today’s mission needs.

    Under GCS II, LM will continue to manage the technical baselines for the OCS and GPS Information Network (GIN) and regularly procure, develop, fabricate, integrate, test and install software and hardware modifications into the GPS operational baseline. Focus areas will be performing a technical refresh of the GIN and increasing the resiliency of the OCS.

    “Lockheed Martin’s experience integrating GCS projects as well as the system engineering and software integration performed on GPS III Contingency Operations (COps) and M-Code Early Use (MCEU) position us well to deliver GCS II,” said Maria Demaree, vice president/GM Mission Solutions for Lockheed Martin Space. “We look forward to supporting the Air Force as it deploys the next generation GPS III satellites and their new capabilities for our warfighters.”

  • Lockheed gets U.S. Air Force contract for 22 more GPS IIIs

    Lockheed gets U.S. Air Force contract for 22 more GPS IIIs

    The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $7.2 billion contract to build 22 more GPS III satellites.

    Like the first batch of 10 GPS III satellites, the GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) satellites “will provide greater accuracy, and improved anti-jamming capabilities, making them more resilient,” said Air Force Secretary Heather Wilson in a statement.

    The satellites will be built at the company’s Waterton campus in the Denver suburb of Littleton.

    Under a previous contract, Lockheed is in the process of building 10 GPS III satellites, the first of which is slated to launch in December. The first GPS IIIF satellite could be ready for launch in 2026.

    GPS III SV01 on Aug. 20 boards a U.S. Air Force C-17 for its flight to Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)
    GPS III SV01 on Aug. 20 boards a U.S. Air Force C-17 for its flight to Cape Canaveral, Florida. (Photo: Lockheed Martin)

    “We’re grateful for the U.S. Air Force’s continued confidence in Lockheed Martin on the GPS III/IIIF program,” said Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin’s program manager for Navigation Systems. “We’ve worked hard to develop and produce GPS III to help the Air Force modernize the GPS constellation with new, more powerful, and more resilient, technology.

    “This new contract for GPS IIIF will bring GPS to a whole new level. It takes full advantage of our flexible satellite design to incorporate additional new technology like a 100% digital navigation payload, Regional Military Protection and new search-and-rescue payloads into the constellation. We are proud to be bringing these new capabilities to our warfighters and the world.”

    Both Boeing and Northrop Grumman declined to bid on the contract, leaving Lockheed Martin the lone provider.

  • Comtech awarded automotive navigation contract

    Comtech Telecommunications Corp. has been awarded $1.9 million navigation contract by a U.S. automotive manufacturer, according to the company. The automaker’s identity was not revealed.

    The contract is with Comtech’s Enterprise Technologies group, which is part of Comtech’s Commercial Solutions segment, and is for developing a new navigation product for two of the automaker’s top vehicle programs, including motorcycles.

    “With this agreement, our turnkey navigation solution will be introduced to an entirely new automotive segment and is included as a lead product for this manufacturer supporting multiple languages and is deployed globally across all major markets,” said Fred Kornberg, president and chief executive officer of Comtech Telecommunications Corp. “It also represents a new stage of growth for our navigation and mapping applications, made possible through our Location Studio platform that has been a leading source of product customization for OEMs across a number of vertical markets.”

    The Enterprise Technologies group specializes in precise device location and messaging platforms. Its fully virtualized and API solutions are available to mobile network operators, enterprises, internet of things (IoT) developers and automotive manufacturers.

    Comtech Telecommunications Corp. designs, develops, produces and markets innovative products, systems and services for advanced communications solutions. It sells products to a diverse customer base in the global commercial and government communications markets.

  • Thales signs contract to upgrade Europe’s EGNOS

    Thales signs contract to upgrade Europe’s EGNOS

    The European Space Agency (ESA) has signed a contract with Thales Alenia Space for an upgrade to Europe’s EGNOS satellite navigation augmentation system, which underpins the safety-critical use of satnav across Europe, according to ESA.

    Designed by ESA and being exploited by Europe’s GNSS Agency (GSA), the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) improves the precision of GPS signals over most European territory, while also providing continuous and reliable updates on the “integrity” of these GPS signals.

    A network of ground monitoring stations throughout Europe performs an independent measurement of GPS signals, so that corrections can be calculated, and then passed to users immediately via a trio of geostationary satellites.

    The result is that the EGNOS-augmented signals are guaranteed to meet the extremely high performance standards set out by the International Civil Aviation Organisation standard, adapted for Europe by Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation.

    Paul Verhoef, ESA director of the Galileo Program, and Philippe Blatt, VP Thales Alenia Space France, sign on June 6 a contract for an upgrade of EGNOS.

    Paul Verhoef, ESA’s director of the Galileo programme and navigation-related activities, signed the contract at ESA Headquarters in Paris with Philippe Blatt, vice president of Thales Alenia Space France.

    ESA is performing the procurement of EGNOS Version 2.4.2 under the overall program authority of the GSA, which oversees both EGNOS and Europe’s Galileo satellite navigation system.

    Two upgraded EGNOS releases will be provided over the course of the development: EGNOS V2.4.2I and EGNOS V2.4.2A.

    The releases will resolve various obsolescence issues related to EGNOS’s central processing facility, based in Toulouse, France — which generates the corrections and integrity information to be broadcast across the European continent — to ensure continuity of EGNOS services into the future, including safety-of-life services, to an ever-expanding community of users.

    The new contract includes:

    • a refreshment and enhancement of the Central Processing Facility design without algorithm modification
    • an optimized qualification process
    • a guarantee of full compliance to safety-critical software development requirements
    • the performance of end-to-end verification activities extending to the three geostationary satellites used by the system
    • ensuring compliance to a new set of technical requirements and international standards.

    Below is a video about EGNOS.

  • SpectraTime Awarded Contract to Improve Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standards

    SpectraTime, a business of the Orolia Group, today announced it has been awarded a 1M€ contract to improve rubidium atomic frequency standards (RAFS) as part of the European Global Navigation Satellite System Evolution Program.

    Pascal Rochat, SpectraTime Managing director and founder, said, “We are pleased to continue to push the performance limits of space-based precision clock technologies to enable new applications in the future. The knowledge gained through this investigation will be invaluable. As a result we expect all our customers to benefit from this work as our commercial products are derived from the same design and manufacturing process as our space-based clocks.”

    Atomic clock standards are critical for high-precision applications such as global navigation satellite systems. While the current Rubidium-based atomic frequency standards meet the requirements of current systems, future applications will demand a higher level of performance for short-term and long-term stability, SpectraTime said. Recognizing the need to continue to extend this technology to new performance levels, the European Space Agency (ESA) has turned to SpectraTime, the existing supplier of atomic clocks for the Galileo satellites and other GNSS satellite systems.

    “The award of this new development contract illustrates the European Space Agency’s confidence in our technology and confirms our global leadership role in the supply of precision atomic clocks for navigation applications,” said Jean-Yves Courtois, CEO of the Orolia Group. “Not only will this ensure our competitiveness into the future for the European space market, it will benefit our entire portfolio of programs and customers and secures our leading position in navigation applications.”

    The contract is for a detailed investigation of the current design, manufacturing, assembly and test techniques for fully integrated rubidium clocks in order to achieve a new standard for space within two years. It adds to SpectraTime’s wide portfolio of space-based precision timing projects.