Sun, Jun 28, 2009
New System Promises Twice The Navigational Accuracy
Boeing has shipped a Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF
satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida to conduct
a series of key tests for the U.S. Air Force’s
next-generation satellite navigation system.
Built at Boeing’s El Segundo satellite factory, Space
Vehicle 2 (SV-2) is undergoing ground testing to prepare for the
launch of SV-1, the first of 12 GPS IIF satellites. SV-2 arrived at
Cape Canaveral last month.
SV-2 is being used to execute a consolidated system test (CST),
which is a set of one-time, system-level design validation tests
involving the space vehicle, the ground-based control segment, and
user equipment. SV-2 is also being used as a "pathfinder" to
validate satellite transportation processes and equipment, and to
validate the launch site test program, procedures and equipment.
After completion of the CST and pathfinder activities, SV-2 will
return to El Segundo to prepare for its own launch from the
Cape.
“The shipment of this pathfinder satellite keeps GPS IIF
on track for its first launch, and continues Boeing’s long,
successful history of building GPS satellites for the U.S. Air
Force,” said Craig Cooning, vice president and general
manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. “The GPS
IIF system will bring more capability and improved mission
performance to the GPS constellation.”
GPS IIF is the product of Boeing’s experience with 39
successful satellites from the GPS Block I and Block II/IIA
missions and more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force. GPS
IIF features twice the navigational accuracy of heritage
satellites, more robust signals for commercial aviation and search
and rescue, and greater resistance to jamming in hostile
environments. It will form the core of the constellation for many
years to come.
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