Many people finding their way to Le Bourget or their hotels in downtown Paris will be relying on a US military technology that has changed land, air and sea navigation for ever.
GPS (Global Positioning Systems) are now offered as standard on cars, light airplanes and yachts. Even on foot, the well-prepared hiker wouldn’t be seen on a moor or a mountainside without a handheld GPS receiver.
Boeing comes to Paris having just joined the US Air force in celebrating the 18th anniversary of the activation of the first GPS Block II satellite launched on a Delta II rocket – there have been 27 further successful launches.
Each satellite launched between 1989 and 1987 had a six-year mean mission duration. More than half are still functional today many exceeding their life-expectancy by an average of more than 12 years.
Boeing is currently building 12 next-generation GPS Block IIF satellites under contract from the Navstar GPS wing at the US Air Force. These will carry new capabilities such as fully expanses military code, a new civil signal known as L-5 crosslink enhancements, signal power increases and greater design life. The first will be delivered next year.
But underlying all of this is preparation for the next leap forward for GPS – The GPSIII competition.
Boeing recently completed a critical GPS Space Segment IIIsystem design review to support the Air Force requirement for a low-risk high confidence solution.
The multi-billion dollar order is expected later this year in order to meet the projected launch need of 2013.
GPS III will provide improved navigation and timing accuracy and broadcast more powerful signals that are less vulnerable to jamming. The new civil signal will also be interoperable with the projected European Galileo system.
Source: Flight Daily News
