The latest satellite increases the number of secure military code-enabled satellites in GPS Constellation to 22.
SpaceX on Tuesday successfully launched the third Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite which is now headed to orbit under its own propulsion. The satellite has separated from its rocket and is using onboard power to climb to its operational orbit, approximately 12,550 miles above the Earth. The satellite was launched aboard the Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
GPS III Space Vehicle 03 (GPS III SV03) is responding to commands from US Space Force and Lockheed Martin engineers in the Launch and Checkout Center at the companys Denver facility.
“In the coming days, GPS III SV03s onboard liquid apogee engines will continue to propel the satellite towards its operational orbit,” said Tonya Ladwig, Lockheed Martins Acting Vice President for Navigation Systems. “Once it arrives, well send the satellite commands to deploy its solar arrays and antennas and prepare the satellite for handover to Space Operations Command.”
After on-orbit testing, GPS III SV03 is expected to join the GPS constellation including GPS III SV01 and SV02, which were declared operational in January and April in providing positioning, navigation and timing signals for more than four billion military, civil and commercial users.
Lockheed Martin designed GPS III to help the Space Force modernize the GPS constellation with new technology and capabilities. The new GPS IIIs provide three times better accuracy and up to eight times improved anti-jamming capabilities over any previous GPS satellite. They also offer a new L1C civil signal, which is compatible with other international global navigation satellite systems, like Europes Galileo, to improve civilian user connectivity.
GPS III also continues the Space Forces plan to field M-Code, a more-secure, harder-to-jam and spoof GPS signal for the US military forces. GPS III SV03 brings the number of M-Code enabled satellites to 22 in the 31-satellite GPS constellation.
“As a nation, we use GPS signals every day — they timestamp all our financial transactions, they make aviation safe, they make precision farming possible, and so much more. GPS has become a critical part of our national infrastructure. In fact, the US economic benefit of GPS is estimated to be over $300bn per year and $1.4tln since its inception,” added Ladwig. “Continued investment in modernizing GPS updating technology, improving its capabilities is well worth it.”
