The Delta 4 Medium carried its GPS-3 payload to a transfer orbit from which the satellite will use onboard propulsion to join the Air Force’s other 31 GPS satellites in a 20,200-kilometer medium Earth orbit.
GPS-3 satellites support a new civilian signal called L1C that is interoperable with Europe’s Galileo system.
United Launch Alliance completed the final launch of a Delta 4 Medium on 2019-08-22, sending a GPS-3 satellite into medium Earth orbit for the U.S. Air Force.
The GPS-3 satellite launched on ULA’s final Delta 4 Medium was the U.S. Air Force’s second GPS-3 spacecraft.
The Raytheon-supplied OCX Block 0 ground control system will guide the second GPS-3 satellite through checkout and calibration.
Lockheed Martin completed an Operational Control Segment software update in May and is preparing that system for installation to fly GPS-3 satellites until Raytheon’s OCX Block 1 is ready in 2021.
United Launch Alliance’s Delta 4 Medium has launched 28 times and its 29th and final mission will carry the Air Force’s second GPS-3 satellite on 2020-08-22.
The OCX program is a $6,000,000,000 next-generation operational control system for the GPS 3 constellation that has been in development since 2012.
Lockheed Martin completed checkout testing of the $568,000,000 GPS-3 SV-2 and is preparing it for a 2019-07-25 launch.
Lockheed Martin is building 10 GPS 3 satellites that the Air Force initially ordered in 2008.
The 2020 budget seeks $31,000,000 for technical assessments of production and launch preparation for GPS 3 vehicles 3 through 10.
The 2020 budget includes $462,000,000 for development of GPS 3 follow-on satellites (GPS 3F) to be built by Lockheed Martin under a $7,200,000,000 contract for up to 22 satellites.
The 2020 budget includes $380,000,000 in RDT&E funds for the new GPS 3 ground control system called OCX and $64,000,000 for OCX integration into the GPS enterprise.
The first GPS 3 satellite launched in December on a SpaceX Falcon 9 and the second GPS 3 is slated to launch in July on a Delta IV.
GPS 3 satellites being built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems have a mass of approximately 4,400 kg.
The Air Force began deploying GPS 3 satellites designed to be more resistant to jamming and spoofing.
Since 2015 the Air Force has funded upgrades to the legacy GPS ground control system so it can control GPS 3 satellites and provide an encrypted broadcast until OCX is available.
GPS 3’s phased array antenna is part of the spacecraft bus and is not actively steerable.
The first GPS 3 satellite was part of a $3,500,000,000 2008 order for 10 satellites and launched aboard a Falcon 9.
Lockheed Martin stands to build up to 32 GPS 3 satellites under contracts awarded in 2008 and 2018.