DENVER, June 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- After a
successful launch this afternoon, the third Lockheed Martin (NYSE:
LMT)-built GPS III satellite is now headed to orbit under its own
propulsion. The satellite has separated from its rocket and is
using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit,
approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth.
GPS III Space Vehicle 03 (GPS III SV03) is responding to
commands from U.S. Space Force and Lockheed Martin engineers in the
Launch & Checkout Center at the company's Denver facility. There, they declared rocket
booster separation and satellite control about 90 minutes
after the satellite's 4:10 p.m.
EST launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape
Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
"In the coming days, GPS III SV03's onboard liquid apogee
engines will continue to propel the satellite towards its
operational orbit," said Tonya
Ladwig, Lockheed Martin's Acting Vice President for
Navigation Systems. "Once it arrives, we'll send the satellite
commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas, and prepare the
satellite for handover to Space Operations Command."
After on-orbit testing, GPS III SV03 is expected to join the GPS
constellation – including GPS III SV01 and SV02, which were
declared operational in January and April – in providing
positioning, navigation and timing signals for more than four
billion military, civil and commercial users.
Lockheed Martin designed GPS III to help the Space Force
modernize the GPS constellation with new technology and
capabilities. The new GPS IIIs provide three times better accuracy
and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over any
previous GPS satellite. They also offer a new L1C civil signal,
which is compatible with other international global navigation
satellite systems, like Europe's
Galileo, to improve civilian user connectivity.
GPS III also continues the Space Force's plan to field M-Code, a
more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof GPS signal for our military
forces. GPS III SV03 brings the number of M-Code enabled satellites
to 22 in the 31-satellite GPS constellation.
"As a nation, we use GPS signals every day -- they time-stamp
all our financial transactions, they make aviation safe, they make
precision farming possible, and so much more. GPS has become a
critical part of our national infrastructure. In fact, the U.S.
economic benefit of GPS is estimated to be over $300 billion per year and $1.4 trillion since its inception," added Ladwig.
"Continued investment in modernizing GPS – updating technology,
improving its capabilities – is well worth it."
Lockheed Martin is proud to be a part of the GPS III team led by
the Space Production Corps Medium Earth Orbit Division, at the
Space Force's Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base. The GPS
Operational Control Segment sustainment is managed by the
Enterprise Corps, GPS Sustainment Division at Peterson Air Force
Base. The 2nd Space Operations Squadron, at Schriever Air
Force Base, manages and operates the GPS constellation for both
civil and military users.
For additional GPS III information, photos and video visit:
www.lockheedmartin.com/gps.
About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin is a
global security and aerospace company that employs approximately
110,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the
research, design, development, manufacture, integration and
sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and
services.
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SOURCE Lockheed Martin