USAF Set to Launch First GPS IIR Satellite

The U.S. Air Force is slated to launch the first modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite built by Lockheed Martin aboard a Delta II rocket on Sept. 25, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.


The satellite, designated GPS IIR-14 (M), is described as the most technologically advanced GPS satellite ever developed and will provide significantly improved navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide. It is the first in a series of eight GPS IIR satellites that Lockheed Martin is modernizing.


The modernized series will offer a variety of enhanced features for GPS users, such as a modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide civil users with an open access signal on a different frequency.


The current GPS constellation of 28 spacecraft includes 12 fully operational Block IIR satellites, which were developed to improve global coverage and increase the overall performance of the global positioning system. http://www.lockheedmartin.com/