GPS World, February 2016

SYSTEM SYSTEMS OF GPS III Bidding Opens Again First GPS III Satellite Passes Critical Test 8 GPS WORLD WWW GPSWORLD COM FEBRUARY 2016 Policy and System Developments GPS Galileo GLONASS BeiDou T he GPS Directorate at the Space and Missile Systems Center SMC continues to look for someone to build 22 GPS III satellites in the near future SMC issued a request for proposals on Jan 8 with rather complicated terms The first eight GPS III satellites are already under contract and two have been built but delivery and launch schedules have dragged The Air Force incorporated several other payload requirements for the satellites beyond those of new GPS signals themselves This is the Air Forces third effort to find a builder The RFP is for 11 Phase 1 Production Readiness Feasibility Assessment It covers GPS III space vehicles 11 and beyond The process if followed as the Air Force envisions will award up to three relatively small fixed price contracts According to an Air Force press release The scope of this effort includes the current GPS III SV01 08 technical baseline with the addition of redesigned Nuclear Detonation Detection System NDS Search and Rescue GPS SAR GPS and Laser Retroreflector Array LRA payloads Unified S Band USB compliance Regional Military Protection capability No changes are allowed to the GPS Next Generation Operational Control System OCX or Military GPS User Equipment MGUE interfaces The first Air Force effort to recompete the contract for future GPS III satellites came in 2014 A 2015 initiative lowered the bar as far as requirements but also lowered the award very dramatically from 200 million each for two companies to 6 million each for three companies The 2016 announcement appears to replicate the terms of the 2015 campaign There has been no official explanation as to why the terms changed between 2014 and 2015 and why they did not between 2015 and 2016 T he U S Coast Guard issued a safety alert on Jan 16 warning mariners of the potential detrimental impact to navigation caused by GPS interference or jamming The warning emphasizes the importance of understanding how vessel equipment could be impacted by the loss of a GPS signal The Coast Guard states that this past summer multiple outbound vessels from a non U S port suddenly lost GPS signal reception The net effect was various alarms and a loss of GPS input to the ships surface search radar gyro units and ECDIS resulting in no GPS data for position fixing radar over ground speed inputs gyro speed input and loss of collision avoidance capabilities on the radar display Fortunately the vessels were able to safely continue theirvoyage using radar in heads up display magnetic compass and terrestrial navigation Approximately six nautical miles later the vessels GPS units resumed operation Although the vessels had backup systems to allow a safe transit the consequences could have been severe warns the Coast Guard T he first GPS III satellite has passed a critical on ground in lab test according to Lockheed Martin Rick Ambrose executive vice president of Lockheed Martin Space Systems tweeted on Jan 13 that the satellite had successfully completed its thermal vacuum test TVAC Lockheed Martin Space Systems is the prime contractor on the GPS III program to build a total of eight GPS IIIs The contract includes options for up to four more satellites and the Air Force has told Congress it expects to execute options for at least two of those satellites The first GPS III satellite is expected to launch in 2017 Coast Guard Issues Jamming Alert