Raytheon GPS Launch and Checkout Capability Cleared for Test
September 4, 2013
Raytheon Company has received Interim Authorization to Test (IATT) security certification for the Global Positioning System Next Generation […]
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Raytheon Company has received Interim Authorization to Test (IATT) security certification for the Global Positioning System Next Generation […]
A March 2013 report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) seems to claim that the projected cost of […]
Ray Kolibaba, Raytheon VP and Program Manager for OCX, took part in a candid conversation with Don Jewell, […]
Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin successfully completed the first launch readiness exercise for the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation […]
One of the long-standing issues for support of IIA vehicles after the future GPS Operational Ground Control Segment’s (OCX’s) ready-to-operate (RTO) date, which should fall in December 2016 at the latest, is what ground command-and-control (C2) system will steer GPS IIA satellites, do navigation uploads, and so on. The issue is that AEP, the current C2 system, will no longer be available once the transition to OCX takes place, and OCX has no requirement to control IIA satellites.
GPS III Endures Bad Press, IIAs an OCX Concern Reports in daily news media such as the Washington […]
The U.S. Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $21.5 million contract to provide a Launch and Checkout Capability (LCC) to command and control all GPS III satellites from launch through early on-orbit testing. The LCC, which will be integrated into the Raytheon-developed Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), will ensure launch availability for the first GPS III satellite in 2014. The LCC includes trained satellite operators and engineering solutions in partnership with OCX to support launch, early orbit operations and checkout of all GPS III satellites before the spacecraft are turned over to Air Force Space Command for operations.
The U.S. Air Force 50th Space Wing’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron took command and control of the second GPS Block IIF satellite on August 19. SVN-63 (PRN 01) was set healthy on August 23. The total of 12 next-generation GPS IIF satellites built by Boeing will provide improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks, a longer design life than legacy GPS satellites, and a new signal, L5, that will benefit civil aviation and safety-of-life applications. The Space and Missile Systems Center’s GPS Directorate at Los Angeles Air Force Base remained in control of the satellite during a 30-day on-orbit check-out period before hand off.
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