GPS World

Tag: GPS III Follow-On

  • Space Force orders 3 more GPS IIIF satellites from Lockheed

    Space Force orders 3 more GPS IIIF satellites from Lockheed

    The three new GPS satellites will be delivered under the third production option of the GPS III contract

    Space Systems Command (SSC), a division of the U.S. Space Force, has exercised its third production option valued at $744 million for the procurement of three additional GPS III Follow-On satellites from Lockheed Martin.

    The contract option covers GPS IIIF Space Vehicles (SVs) 18, 19 and 20.

    GPS IIIF will provide several next-generation capabilities to meet increased demands of both military and civilian users. Building on the technical baseline of satellites 01 to 10, the newer satellites will provide increased anti-jam capabilities for the military with the addition of a Regional Military Protection capability.

    Precision ranging measurements will be enabled by a laser retro-reflector array and will address the consolidation of telemetry, tracking and commanding frequencies.

    Additionally, GPS IIIF leverages major international collaboration with the Canadian Department of National Defense and other U.S. government organizations such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, and the U.S. Coast Guard Office of Search and Rescue (SAR) by hosting a new SAR payload.

    This payload provides enhanced capabilities to the SAR mission with distress alert detection and location to 100 percent continuous global coverage and reduces location uncertainty to less than 5 km in support of 49 international partners.

    Finally, the program will host a redesigned Nuclear Detonation Detection System that has a lower overall size, weight and power requirement.

    “Along with our industry and government partners, the GPS IIIF team continues to add world-class capabilities that underpin U.S. national security needs to both our warfighters and civil users across the globe as the most utilized United States Space Force capability,” said Col. Jung Ha, GPS Space Vehicles senior materiel leader for SSC Military Communication and Positioning, Navigation and Timing.

    The GPS IIIF SV11-12 satellites were included in the original GPS IIIF contract awarded to Lockheed Martin in September 2018 to build up to 22 GPS IIIF satellites. Under that contract, SSC exercised the first production option for SV13-14 in October 2020 and second production option for SV 15-17 in October 2021.

    GPS IIIF’s M-Code can be broadcast from a high-gain directional antenna in a concentrated, high-powered spot beam, in addition to a wide-angle, full-Earth antenna. (Artist rendering: Lockheed Martin)
    Artist’s rendering of a GPS III satellite. (Image: Lockheed Martin)

    About Space Systems Command

    Space Systems Command is the U.S. Space Force field command responsible for rapidly identifying, prototyping and fielding resilient space capabilities for joint warfighters.

    SSC delivers sustainable joint space warfighting capabilities to defend the nation and its allies while disrupting adversaries in the contested space domain. SSC mission areas include launch acquisition and operations; space domain awareness; positioning, navigation, and timing; missile warning; satellite communication; and cross-mission ground, command and control and data.

  • Harris receives GPS III Follow-On payload contract

    Harris receives GPS III Follow-On payload contract

    Harris Corporation has received a $243 million contract from Lockheed Martin to provide fully digital navigation signals for the first two GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) satellites — to deliver stronger signals, with greater operational flexibility.

    Harris’ GPS IIIF fully-digital Mission Data Unit (MDU), the heart of the satellite’s navigation payload which generates the GPS signals, will provide more powerful signals, assure flawless clock operations for GPS users, and add flexibility to adapt to advances in GPS technology, as well as future changes in mission needs.

    It will provide improved capabilities over Harris’ 70-percent-digital MDU used for GPS III Space Vehicles 01-10 (GPS III SV01-10).

    The new MDU also offers the Air Force a smooth transition to its GPS OCX ground control segment. Harris will seamlessly port its digital signal design, minimizing both integration risks and associated costs.

    In September 2018, the U.S. Air Force selected Lockheed Martin, with Harris as its navigation signal partner, to build up to 22 GPS IIIF satellites, with a total estimated contract value up to $7.2 billion.

    The Air Force expects the first GPS IIIF satellite, SV11, to be available for launch in 2026.

    Launched aboard GPS III SV01 in December 2018, Harris’ first GPS III navigation payload began broadcasting navigation signals on January 8. While testing of the first-of-its-kind satellite continues, the payload has performed beyond expectations.

    Harris has provided navigation technology for every U.S. GPS satellite ever launched, enabling the reliable GPS signal that millions of people — including U.S. soldiers — and billions of dollars in commerce depend on every day.

  • Second GPS III satellite delivered for July launch

    Second GPS III satellite delivered for July launch

    The U.S. Air Force’s second new GPS III satellite, bringing higher-power, more accurate and harder-to-jam signals to the GPS constellation, has arrived in Florida for launch.

    On March 18, Lockheed Martin shipped the Air Force’s second GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV02) to Cape Canaveral for an expected July launch.

    Designed and built at Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility near Denver, the satellite traveled from Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado, to the Cape on a massive Air Force C-17 aircraft. The Air Force nicknamed the GPS III SV02 “Magellan” after Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan.

    GPS III is the most powerful and resilient GPS satellite ever put on orbit. Developed with an entirely new design, for U.S. and allied forces, it will have three times greater accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over the previous GPS II satellite design block, which makes up today’s GPS constellation.

    GPS III also will be the first GPS satellite to broadcast the new L1C civil signal. Shared by other international global navigation satellite systems, like Galileo, the L1C signal will improve future connectivity worldwide for commercial and civilian users.

    The Air Force began modernizing the GPS constellation with new technology and capabilities with the December 23, 2018 launch of its first GPS III satellite. GPS III SV01 is now receiving and responding to commands from Lockheed Martin’s Launch and Checkout Center at the company’s Denver facility.

    Lockheed Martin shipped the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS III to Cape Canaveral, Florida ahead of its expected July launch. (Photo: Lockheed Martin}
    Lockheed Martin shipped the U.S. Air Force’s first GPS III to Cape Canaveral, Florida ahead of its expected July launch. (Photo: Lockheed Martin}

    “After orbit raising and antenna deployments, we switched on GPS III SV01’s powerful signal-generating navigation payload and on Jan. 8 began broadcasting signals,” Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin’s Vice President for Navigation Systems. “Our on orbit testing continues, but the navigation payload’s capabilities have exceeded expectations and the satellite is operating completely healthy.”

    GPS III SV02 is the second of ten new GPS III satellites under contract and in full production at Lockheed Martin. GPS III SV03-08 are now in various stages of assembly and test. The Air Force declared the second GPS III “Available for Launch” in August and, in November, called GPS III SV02 up for its 2019 launch.

    In September 2018, the Air Force selected Lockheed Martin for the GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) program, an estimated $7.2 billion opportunity to build up to 22 additional GPS IIIF satellites with additional capabilities.

    GPS IIIF builds off Lockheed Martin’s existing modular GPS III, which was designed to evolve with new technology and changing mission needs. On September 26, the Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.4 billion contract for support to start up the program and to contract the 11th and 12th GPS III satellite.

    Once declared operational, GPS III SV01 and SV02 are expected to take their place in today’s 31 satellite strong GPS constellation, which provides positioning, navigation and timing services to more than four billion civil, commercial and military users.

  • Frequency Electronics awarded $5.9M Lockheed contract for GPS IIIF clock qualification

    As a risk reduction effort for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) satellite program, Frequency Electronics Inc. has received a contract from Lockheed Martin Space, valued at $5.9 million, for the qualification of FEI’s Digital Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (DRAFS).

    The contract’s intent is to qualify FEI’s DRAFS for potential use on the new GPS IIIF satellites, securing the industrial base for high-accuracy GPS atomic clocks.

    To help the Air Force modernize its GPS satellite constellation with new technology and capabilities, Lockheed Martin Space designed and built the most powerful GPS satellite, GPS III. With 10 satellites under contract, in 2018, the Air Force selected Lockheed Martin to build up to 22 additional GPS IIIF satellites, adding new features and resiliency to the flexible satellite design. The Air Force began launching GPS III satellites in December 2018. Today, more than 4 billion users rely on GPS.

    “We are extremely pleased to be awarded this contract and the opportunity to play a significant role in the GPS IIIF program,” Stanton Sloane, FEI’s CEO commented. “This award is the culmination of 50+ years of research and development of advanced quartz and atomic clocks based on FEI’s proprietary technologies. We are also pleased to continue our long-standing relationship with Lockheed Martin Space on critical national security programs.”

    Martin Bloch, FEI’s Executive Chairman added, “I congratulate the FEI team on the development of this digital Rubidium clock for GPS IIIF program. FEI will continue the development of advanced clock technologies for future generations of Satellites and Terrestrial applications.”

    Frequency Electronics designs, develops and manufactures high-precision timing, frequency control and synchronization products for space and terrestrial applications. Its products are used in satellite payloads and in other commercial, government and military systems including C4ISR and EW markets, missiles, UAVs, aircraft, GPS, secure radios, energy exploration and wireline and wireless communication networks.

    Its subsidiaries and affiliates include FEI-Zyfer, which provides GPS and secure timing (“SAASM”) capabilities for critical military and commercial applications; and FEI-Elcom Tech, which provides subsystems for the Electronic Warfare markets and added resources for RF microwave products.

  • 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.

  • Boeing won’t bid on GPS III Follow On contract

    Boeing has decided to not submit a proposal to build up to 22 GPS III satellites for the U.S. Air Force. The GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) program will supply additional upgraded satellites to replace ones now in the constellation.

    “We have not put in a proposal for GPS III,” said Rico Attanasio, Boeing’s director of Department of Defense and civil navigation and communications programs, to Space News.

    Lockheed has been the only producer of GPS III satellites, and is now under contract to build the first 10. Boeing built earlier versions of GPS satellites.

    Lockheed Martin has submitted a proposal for the Follow On contract.

    In February, the U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSC) released its request for proposals (RFP) to build the 22 GPS III satellites, called the GPS III Follow-On Phase 2 contract. The estimated dollar value of the acquisition is $10 billion including all options.

    Phase 2 is planned as a single, predominantly fixed-price incentive-type contract awarded via full and open competition for production of 22 GPS III satellites. Deadline for proposals is April 16. Construction is to begin in fiscal year 2019 (Oct. 1, 2018), with delivery of the first satellite in 2026.

    Boeing thought it could compete based on “innovation, resilience [and] a new payload, but that wasn’t emphasized,” Attanasio told Space News. “It wasn’t a good fit for us.”

  • Lockheed Martin submits proposal for U.S. Air Force GPS IIIF program

    Lockheed Martin has submitted a competitive and fully compliant proposal for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) program, which will add enhanced capabilities to the most advanced GPS satellites ever designed. The GPS IIIF program intends to produce up to 22 next-generation satellites.

    The U.S. Air Force’s first 10 GPS III satellites, now in full production at Lockheed Martin, are already the most powerful GPS satellites ever designed. 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.

    Lockheed Martin’s proposal for the GPS IIIF program adds further power, resiliency and capabilities to GPS III.

    The biggest feature of GPS IIIF will be a regional military protection capability, which will increase anti-jam support in theater to ensure U.S. and allied forces cannot be denied access to GPS in hostile environments.

    Lockheed Martin’s GPS IIIF will feature a fully-digital navigation payload. The payload on the first 10 GPS III satellites is already 70 percent digital.

    Each GPS IIIF satellite will include a laser retro-reflector array, which allows the positioning of on-orbit satellites to be refined with ground-based, laser precision. The precise positioning of each satellite ultimately enhances the positioning signals they generate.

    Additionally, the U.S. government will provide each GPS IIIF with a new search-and-rescue payload. These hosted payloads, spread around the globe on GPS IIIF satellites, will make it easier for first responders to detect and respond to emergency signals.

    “When we developed our design for the first 10 GPS III, we used a flexible, modular architecture that would allow for the insertion of modern technologies and new Air Force requirements in a low-risk manner,” said Johnathon Caldwell, program manager for Lockheed Martin’s navigation systems mission area. “In addition, our GPS IIIF solution is based off a design already proven compatible with both the Air Force’s next generation Operational Control System (OCX) and the existing GPS constellation.”

    The first 10 GPS III satellites are in full production at Lockheed Martin’s GPS III Processing Facility, a $128 million cleanroom factory designed in a virtual reality environment to drive efficiency and reduce costs in satellite production.

    In September 2017, the Air Force declared Lockheed Martin’s first GPS III satellite “Available for Launch” (AFL). GPS III Space Vehicle 01 (GPS III SV01) is in storage waiting for the Air Force to call in up for launch.

    GPS III SV02 completed rigorous Thermal Vacuum (TVAC) testing in December 2017, is in final environmental testing, and is expected to be declared AFL in summer 2018. GPS III SV03 was fully integrated in fall 2017 and recently began TVAC, and SV04 was recently integrated in anticipation of environmental testing later this summer. GPS III SV05 has now received its navigation payload and is in final vehicle build up. Not far behind, GPS III SV06 has begun its initial build with GPS III SV07 also planned to begin production this spring.

    To date, more than 90 percent of parts and materials for all 10 satellites have been received, from more than 250 aerospace companies from 29 states, to help ensure GPS III maintains the gold standard in position, navigation and timing.

  • The System: Accuracy from LEO birds improves

    The System: Accuracy from LEO birds improves

    Accuracy from LEO Birds Improves

    Results from new tests of the Satellite Time and Location (STL) service, using equipment configurations with a differential source and with a more accurate OCXO clock, show timing accuracy of 160 nanoseconds.

    The STL service uses a signal from the low-Earth orbit (LEO) Iridium constellation.

    In 2016, Satelles demonstrated sub-microsecond timing using a stand-alone TCXO-based receiver (see “Innovation: Navigation from LEO,” July 2017 GPS World).

    New testing employed three different configurations of equipment, services and environment, including a Stanford Research Systems (SRS) rubidium vapor frequency reference, based on the PRS10 module, and a Satelles Evaluation Kit (EVK2) STL receiver, comprising a Maxim RF chip, Xylinx Spartan-3 FPGA, TI dual-core DSP chip, and internal OCXO (oven-controlled crystal oscillator) or external clock.

    Parameters and equipment for the three tests are:

    1. Optimal. Outdoor antenna, Rubidium clock powered on for months prior to data collection, receiver configured in static mode with a known location, and high-quality antenna.
    2. Sub-optimal. Indoor antenna, Rubidium clock powered on six hours prior to data collection, receiver configured in static mode with an unknown location, and low-quality antenna.
    3. Three independent receivers collecting data, receiver on-board OCXO, indoor antenna, receiver configured in static mode with an unknown location, low-quality antenna. Tests performed: 10 days with no local reference station running; 10 days with local reference station, 20-kilometers away from test receivers, providing timing corrections to STL ground segment.

    See Figure 1 for more extensive test results. Also see a previous article.

    FIGURE 1. OCXO timing result with base station.

    The 66-satellite Iridium LEO constellation transmits overlapping spot beams, which provide location-specific data that changes every few seconds.

    Air Force Issues GPS III Follow-on Contract

    The U.S. Air Force Space Command released its request for proposals to build 22 new GPS III satellites, called the GPS III Follow-On Phase 2 contract.

    The contract will be awarded to a single bidder, and has an estimated dollar value of $10 billion including all options.

    Phase 2 is planned as a single, predominantly fixed-price incentive-type contract awarded via full and open competition for production of 22 GPS III satellites. Deadline for proposals is April 16. Delivery of the first satellite is to be in 2026.

    Phase 1 contracts awarded in May 2016 to Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin (builder of the first 10 GPS III satellites) “determined that viable, low-risk, high-confidence sources exist to conduct a full and open competition for Phase 2, the production of 22 GPS III SVs [space vehicles] starting in the FY19 timeframe.”

    BeiDou’s Long March

    On Feb. 12, BeiDou-3 28 and 29 were launched into medium-Earth orbits, following the launch of a pair of BeiDou satellites on Jan. 11. The satellites form part of a third phase of BeiDou deployment, taking BeiDou coverage from regional to covering the countries along the Belt and Road initiative by the end of 2018, and global by 2020.

    Stay up-to-date with GPS World’s “Upcoming GNSS Satellite Launches” table.

  • U.S. Air Force seeks builder for 22 more GPS III satellites

    U.S. Air Force seeks builder for 22 more GPS III satellites

    Photo: LMCO

    The U.S. Air Force Space Command (AFSC) has released its request for proposals (RFP) to build 22 new GPS III satellites, called the GPS III Follow-On Phase 2 contract.

    The contract will be awarded to a single bidder, the Air Force Space Command stated in the announcement posted on FedBizOpps.gov. The estimated dollar value of the acquisition is $10 billion including all options.

    Phase 2 is planned as a single, predominantly fixed-price incentive-type contract awarded via full and open competition for production of 22 GPS III satellites. Deadline for proposals is April 16. Construction is to begin in fiscal year 2019 (Oct. 1, 2018), with delivery of the first satellite in 2026.

    For Phase 1,  AFSC awarded in May 2016 three fixed-price contracts to Boeing Network and Space Systems, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems and Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, which is building the first 10 GPS III satellites. According to the Air Force, “Phase 1 has determined that viable, low-risk, high-confidence sources exist to conduct a full and open competition for Phase 2, the production of 22 GPS III SVs starting in the FY19 timeframe.”

  • U.S. Air Force plans to release GPS III Follow-On RFP next week

    The U.S. Air Force plans to release a request for proposal (RFP) for the second phase of GPS III Follow-On satellite production “on or about” Feb. 13, according to a report by Inside Defense.

    The RFP was expected in December 2017, but was held up as officials worked to solidify requirements.

    The solicitation is expected to result in a contract for up to 22 GPS III Follow-On satellites in the 2019 time frame.

    Lockheed Martin is on contract to build the initial 10 GPS III satellites, the first of which is expected to launch this year. Besides Lockheed, Boeing and Northrop Grumman  have both expressed interest in competing to produce the next batch of satellites.