Posted by John McHaleNEWTOWN, Pa., 5 July 2011. Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] Space Systems officials in Newtown, Pa., announced that company engineers completed system design review (SDR) on the Global Positioning System (GPS) IIIB satellite as part of the the next generation GPS III program run by the U.S. Air Force.GPS III is expected to improve position, timing services, and navigation as well as provide advanced anti-jam capabilities to improve system security, reliability, and accuracy for users worldwide.Lockheed Martin is producing produce the first two of a planned eight GPS IIIA satellites, with first launch expected in 2014. The contract includes a Capability Insertion Program (CIP) designed to mature technologies and perform systems engineering for future GPS III increments.GPS IIIA will deliver signals three times more accurate than current GPS spacecraft and provide three times more power for military users, while also enhancing the spacecraft's design life and adding a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems. GPS IIIB will provide higher power modernized signals, a fully digital navigation payload capable of generating new navigation signals after launch, and a Distress Alerting Satellite System payload that relays distress signals from emergency beacons back to search and rescue operations.The Lockheed Martin-led GPS III team includes ITT of Bloomfield, N.J., and General Dynamics of Scottsdale, Ariz.. Lockheed Martin officials expect GPS IIIA program's first satellite delivery to be in 2014.
