New Generation GPS Satellite Starts Tests in US

[dogg57]

A $5.5 billion upgrade to the Global Positioning System moved a step closer to launch this week when a prototype arrived at a Lockheed Martin complex in Colorado to begin months of tests.
It's the guinea pig for a new generation of GPS satellites, called Block III, that's expected to make military and civilian receivers more accurate, powerful and reliable.
They're also part of an international effort to allow civilian receivers to use signals from U.S., European, Russian and perhaps other satellite navigation systems.
GPS has become ubiquitous in American civilian and military life, with hundreds of thousands of receivers in cars, and weapons systems. Financial systems use GPS receivers to get precise time stamps for transactions, relying on the atomic clocks onboard the satellites.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wi...llite-starts-tests-colo-15142916#.TudEmFaO7oY

 

[dogg57]

GPS III

Lockheed Martin's Space System Co. in Newtown Township has been awarded a $238 million U.S. Air Force contract to produce two more satellites for the next generation Global Positioning System, also known as GPS III.
The satellites covered by the contract are the third and fourth on the program. Lockheed Martin received a similar contract in May 2008 for the first two GPS III satellites, with the opportunity to build 10 more. The first satellite is scheduled to launch in 2014.
The GPS III satellites are bought and paid for by the military, but civilians will benefit, too, when they use their vehicle navigation systems and other devices.
"The government has mapped an extremely sensible acquisition strategy for GPS III and we are focusing on executing the program to deliver these much-needed capabilities to billions of users around the word," Mark Valerio, vice president and general manager of Lockheed Martin's Surveillance and Navigation Systems line of business, said in a statement. "As we produce more GPS III satellites, we aim to continually reduce the cost and cycle time of each space vehicle to ensure we deliver the greatest value to the Air Force."
© 2012 phillyBurbs.com

 

[Teegate]

I/we will be making some of the parts I suspect. They have told us they will be coming but our contribution comes later if we get them.

Guy