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U.S. Air Force's First GPS III Satellite Receives Commands From
Next-Generation OCX Ground Control Segment
Dec. 13, 2017
The first advanced GPS III satellite successfully established remote
connectivity and communicated with the Next Generation Operational
Control System (OCX), further validating the U.S. Air Force's
modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) is ready to launch its
first satellite.
On November 2, 2017, GPS III Space Vehicle 01 (GPS III SV01),
the first of 10 GPS III satellites designed by Lockheed Martin, and
OCX, being developed by Raytheon Corporation, successfully completed
Factory Mission Readiness Testing (FMRT).
The FMRT validated the command and control interaction between
GPS III and the OCX's Launch and Checkout System (LCS) through a
simulated full launch and early orbit mission event sequence.
During this end-to-end system demonstration, command signals were
sent from the latest OCX LCS software installed at Lockheed Martin's
Launch and Check Out Capability node in Denver to Schriever Air
Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. From there, the commands
were uplinked back to the GPS III SV01 satellite, currently awaiting
a call up for launch at Lockheed Martin.
"During FMRT, GPS III SV01 received and successfully processed
OCX commands that are routinely sent during launch, transfer orbit
maneuvers, deployments and payload initialization," said Mark
Stewart, Lockheed Martin's vice president for Navigation Systems.
"We thoroughly tested the first GPS III satellite just like we are
going to fly it in 2018."
III SV01 and OCX first "talked" to each other during a link check on
October 3, 2017.
"This was the first time the launch and checkout system directly
interfaced with the GPS III satellite," said Bill Sullivan, vice
president of Raytheon's GPS OCX program.
"We're making consistent, steady progress, and that's driving us
toward a successful launch next year."
The demo further verifies the space-to-ground compatibility
between GPS III satellites and OCX. During a 2013 Compatibility &
Integration test, Lockheed Martin's GPS III Nonflight Satellite
Testbed (GNST) – a full-sized, functional satellite prototype – also
connected with and received commands from an earlier version of
Raytheon's OCX LCS software.
On September 22, 2017, the Air Force declared GPS III SV01
"Available for Launch," with launch expected in 2018. The successful
FMRT was the final validation that GPS III SV01 is ready to be
shipped to the launch pad.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.OCX will revolutionize GPS command and control
and mission management capabilities. It will control all legacy and
new signals, provide protection against evolving cyber threats, and
reduce operation and sustainment costs through efficient software
architecture, automation and performance-based logistics.
OCX represents a quantum leap in capabilities over the current
system, providing flexibility and adaptability to meet future GPS
mission needs.
The GPS III and OCX teams are led by the Global Positioning Systems
Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center.
Air Force Space Command's 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS),
based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, manages and operates
the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.
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