RESTON, Va. 16 Feb. 2009. Northrop Grumman successfully completed the System Design Review for the Global Positioning System (GPS) Next Generation Operational Control Segment (OCX) program, the final major milestone under the Phase A contract, laying the foundation for a low-risk, cost-effective Phase B contract.

Later this year U.S. Air Force officials will select one of two competing contractors for the Phase B contract, which will include system development, deployment and sustainment.

The Air Force GPS Wing institutionalized acquisition rigor early in the program to set high standards of performance. Successfully completing the System Design Review on schedule enables the Air Force to proceed toward the next phase.

"Our team met or exceeded every Phase A challenge, and we laid the foundation for low-risk, cost-effective development, deployment and sustainment," says Steve Bergjans, Northrop Grumman vice president and GPS OCX program manager. "The technical maturity we demonstrated provides strong evidence for the Air Force to enter the next phase."

The System Design Review included a comprehensive exam of the total system architecture – software, hardware, processes, interfaces, and operations – by Air Force program managers, operators and technical experts and culminates more than one year of work for the Northrop Grumman team.

GPS OCX is intended to revolutionize the operations concept for command and control of existing GPS II and future GPS III satellites. OCX will deliver new GPS mission planning, constellation management, ground antenna, monitoring station, and satellite command and control capabilities.

The Northrop Grumman team includes Harris Corp. in Melbourne, Fla.; Integral Systems Inc. in Lanham, Md.; Lockheed Martin Information Systems and Global Services in Gaithersburg, Md.; and Infinity Systems Engineering in Colorado Springs, Colo.