GPS IIIA concept
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The USA’s Global Positioning System is widely relied upon for civilian uses, and also for military purposes. Military class (M-code) GPS guidance can now be found in everything from cruise missiles and various precision-guided bombs, to battlefield rockets and even artillery shells. Combat search and rescue radios use it, and so does a broadening array of individual soldier’s equipment. It has become hard to imagine the US military without the critical capabilities provided by this line of communication in space. In 2005, “The GPS Constellation: Now and Future” discussed to makeup of the GPS constellation, and its plans for the future.

GPS-III satrellites are part of that plan, offering several improvements over the existing GPS II family. When fully deployed, the current vision for GPS-III is that the new satellites will feature a new L1C civil signal; a cross-linked command and control architecture that allows the entire GPS constellation to be updated from a single ground station; and a spot beam antenna that provides resistance to hostile military jamming while improving accuracy and integrity. GPS III will also have limited interoperability with Europe’s ongoing Galileo GPS-type satellite constellation, per a 2006 agreement involving Lockheed Martin and EADS.

The contract to build the new GPS Block III satellites has been hotly contested between GPS-II satellite builders Boeing and Lockheed Martin, and their respective teams. Now, we have a winner… and layoffs at Boeing.

The GPS III Program

The USAF has had issues with over-budget satellite programs in the past, in part because the technology requirements were often leaping ahead on too many fronts at once. This is a natural response to systems with a satellite’s large launch costs and long life cycle, but the lagging launch schedules and liberal cost overruns were becoming limiting. GPS III incorporates these lessons, and will be set up as an incremental acquisition, with 3 blocks of investment and inserts:

GPS Block IIIA satellites will feature agreed-upon compatibility with Europe’s rival Galileo system, carry the new L1C civil signal, and add a stronger military GPS (m-code) signal. The USAF would like to cap GPS IIIA satellites at 8 (2 R&D + 6 operational, all launched), but the initial contract will involve up to 12 GPS-IIIA satellites if necessary. These simple requirements ensure that older GPS-IIA satellites can quickly be replaced by the newest proven designs. First launch of a GPS-IIIA satellite is expected in 2014, with all 32 satellites in orbit by 2022.

GPS Block IIIB satellites will add a cross-linked command and control architecture. In English, this means that the entire constellation of GPS IIIB+ satellites will be updated at once from a single ground station, instead of having to wait for each satellite to orbit in view of a ground antenna as is currently the case. Up to 8 GPS-IIIB satellites are slated for launch.

GPS Block IIIC satellites will add a high-powered spot beam to deliver greater M-Code power, better resistance to hostile jamming, and improved accuracy. Other technologies that become mature during the development period could also be added. The USAF intends to launch up to 16 GPS-IIIC satellites.

The current GPS III system design and development contract award will create about 500 new jobs for Lockheed Martin, and about 750 layoffs at Boeing. A National Examiner article places the total program value at around $3.57 billion over all 3 increments.

Lockheed Martin’s program management and spacecraft development effort will be centered in Newtown, PA, with final assembly, integration and test located in Denver, CO. The company’s Sunnyvale, CA operations will provide various spacecraft components, and a launch support team will be based at Cape Canaveral, FL.

Lockheed Martin’s partners include:

• ITT in Clifton, NJ – Navigation payload)
• General Dynamics Advanced Information Systems in Gilbert, AZ – Network Communications Element (NCE), which includes the UHF Crosslink and Tracking Telemetry & Command (TT&C) subsystems.

Contracts and Key Events

Navstar now: GPS Block IIA, IIR/M, IIF
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May 21/08: After losing the GPS-III contract, Boeing will lay off 750 Southern California employees at plants in El Segundo and Seal Beach. This will reduce the staff of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems from 7,200 employees to about 6,450. National Examiner.

May 20/08: In “Who’s Leaking Air Force Procurement Information?”, the crew at the pro-Boeing Taker War Blog raise a interesting question: was the result of the GPS-III contract effectively leaked to the public almost a month before the award? On April 29/08, Loren Thompson of The Lexington Institute published “Boeing and the Air Force at War: The Damage Spreads.” It included this quote:

“But the tone of Boeing’s tanker campaign has led at least some service officials to believe the worst about the company, a feeling that is spreading far beyond tankers. For instance, the service has probably delayed announcing award of the GPS III satellite contract in part because it fears another Boeing protest.”

There is more than one way to read that snippet, but the betting odds reading suggests that Boeing has lost this contract. The participants in Tanker War blog include legislative assistants on Capitol, and the post adds that:

“A number of people on the Hill tell us that they have very strongly believe a main source for these leaks [is]...”

May 15/08: Lockheed Martin Space Systems Co. of King of Prussia, PA received a cost plus incentive fee/cost plus award fee contract for $1.46 billion for the first increment of the GPS III contract, covering 2008-2017. Lockheed Martin’s flight-proven A2100 satellite bus will serve as the base platform, and first launch is currently expected in 2014.

This initial contract funds 2 GPS IIIA research and development satellites (SV-1 and SV-2), a capability risk reduction and maturation effort to get key technologies ready for GPS IIIB and GPS IIIC, a GPS satellite simulator, “continue support for the Nuclear Detonation Detection System mission,” and a satellite bus real time simulator that lets the USAF test new electronics and additions. It also includes options for 10 additional GPS IIIA production satellites. At this time $96.8 million has been obligated. The Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center in El Segundo, CA issued the contract (Lockheed Martin: FA8807-08-C-0010; Boeing: FA8807-08-C-0012). USAF release | Lockheed Martin release | ITT release copy [PDF format] | National Examiner.

Jan 7/04: The Headquarters Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, CA awards a $20.8 million contract to Boeing in Seal Beach, CA, and $20.786 million to Lockheed Martin in King of Prussia, PA for GPS III Phase A acquisition. These 2 contractors have been selected to “competitively mature GPS III requirements for a successful system requirements review, in support of key decision Point B acquisition milestone.” In English, this means they’ll develop key technologies so the USA can make a strong case to begin the formal System Design & Development phase.

At this time, $10.3 million of the funds have been obligated; further funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued. Solicitation began September 2003, negotiations were completed in December 2003, and work will be complete by December 2005 (FA8807-04-C-0001 [Lockheed]; FA8807-04-C-0002 [Boeing]).

Additional Readings

• NAVSTAR GPS Joint Program Office (SMC/GP)

• DID (Aug 24/05) – The GPS Constellation: Now and Future

• Crosslink Magazine (Summer 2002) – Modernization and the Move to GPS III Excellent summary of GPS III’s planned improvements as of that date.

• The Aerospace Corp. FFRDC – GPS Primer – The Global Positioning System: An Amazing Tool

• Astronautix.com – Navstar. Overview of the entire program, plus dates.

• DID FOCUS – Galileo GPS Project Faces More Certain Future. Includes readings covering security-related issues, and China’s GPS projects. China is also a member of the Galileo consortium.

• USAF, Los Angeles AFB (May 17/08) – SMC Announces Contract Award for Next Generation GPS Space Segment

• DID (May 30/06) – Lockheed & EADS to Ensure Navstar/ Galileo GPS Compatibility

• RIA Novosti, via UPI (March 3-4/08) – Glonass Gloom: Part 1 | Part 2.

• The Space Review (June 19/06) – Will China Compel the Development of GPS 4? “This will mean that the current GPS 3 program will have to be curtailed or modified beyond recognition. The generation after next of GPS satellites will have to include much more robust methods for overcoming or avoiding enemy interference…. In the long term this could create some interesting opportunities for the Transformational Satellite (T-Sat) communications program to work with the designers of the future GPS system.”