GPS III Spacecraft Team Successfully Completes Major Program Milestone

The Lockheed Martin team developing the U.S. Air Force’s next-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) spacecraft, known as GPS III, has successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review (PDR) phase for the spacecraft, a major program milestone that allows the team to begin the Critical Design Review (CDR) stage. Completion of the PDR milestone validates that the design meets warfighter and civil requirements. GPS III will improve position, navigation and timing services and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities yielding superior system security, accuracy and reliability. The Lockheed Martin team is working under a $3 Billion Development and Production contract awarded in May 2008 to produce up to 12 GPS IIIA satellites, with first launch projected for 2014. The next generation GPS IIIA satellites will deliver significant improvements over current GPS space vehicles, including a new international civil signal (L1C) and increased M-Code anti-jam power with full earth coverage for military users.