Lockheed Martin delivered the first modernized Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station for a scheduled launch in May 2005.
The satellite, designated GPS IIR-M1, is the most technologically advanced GPS satellite ever developed and will provide significantly improved navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide.
The current constellation of 30 GPS 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. Lockheed Martin said the modernized series, designated GPS IIR-M, will offer a variety of enhanced features for users of the navigation system, including:
- a modernized antenna panel that will provide increased signal power to GPS receivers on the ground.
- two new military signals that will allow for improved accuracy,
enhanced encryption and anti-jamming performance for the military. - a second civil signal that will provide civil users with an open access signal on a different frequency.
- Lockheed Martin is modernizing eight GPS IIR satellites for its customer at the Navstar GPS Joint Program Office, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base.
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