Satellite Supplies New GPS Capabilities

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The U.S. Air Force declared the first Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite “Available for Launch.” GPS III SV01 will bring new capabilities to U.S. and allied military forces, and a new civil signal that will improve future connectivity worldwide for commercial and civilian users.

According to markets.businessinsider.com, the move was the final acceptance of Lockheed Martin’s first GPS III Space Vehicle (GPS III SV01) prior to its expected 2018 launch. GPS III SV01 now awaits a call up to begin pre-launch preparations. In the meantime, the advanced satellite is stored in an environmentally-controlled clean room, where engineers can perform maintenance and continue to service the satellite.

GPS III is a next generation technology and capability leap over any of the 31 GPS Block II satellites that currently populate today’s operational GPS constellation. It provides better accuracy, improved anti-jam capabilities, a stronger design suitable for space environment, and a new civil signal.

The system was designed in a modular way for today’s mission with an eye on tomorrow’s needs.

For Lockheed Martin, the completion of GPS III SV01 is a major milestone on a challenging development program to design and build the most powerful GPS satellites ever envisioned.  With all major development risks behind them, the company is now in full production on ten GPS III satellites at its GPS III Processing Facility near Denver.