The Navigation Technology Satellite – 3 (NTS-3) spacecraft passed Critical Design Review (CDR) on June 25, a major milestone, allowing L3Harris, the prime contractor for the spacecraft, to proceed into fabrication, demonstration, and test. In partnership with the Space and Missile Systems Center, United States Space Force, and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) will demonstrate revolutionary space-based position, navigation, and timing (PNT) techniques and […]

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy is asking for ideas on what technology to research to protect GPS. The research and development dollars are earmarked for projects that minimize or eliminate disruption to critical infrastructure from intentional and unintentional interference. The “Notice of Request for Information on Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Resilience” was issued Aug. 10 in the Federal Register. The office is seeking input “from all interested parties on the development […]

Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs / Published August 10, 2020 Space and Missile Systems Center Public Affairs — The United States Space Force (USSF) and the Space and the Missile Systems Center achieved another major Global Positioning System (GPS) milestone on July 27 when the GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 03 received USSF’s Operational Acceptance approval. The GPS III satellites are the newest generation built by Lockheed Martin that provide precise […]

The United States Space Force (USSF) and the Space and the Missile Systems Center achieved another major GPS milestone on July 27 when the GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 03 received USSF’s Operational Acceptance approval. This marks the third GPS III satellite to receive operational acceptance in less than a year. GPS III SV-03 satellite packed prior to shipment to Cape Canaveral. (Photo: Lockheed Martin) The GPS III satellites are the newest generation built by […]

Designers of China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System will keep upgrading software on Beidou satellites to improve their capabilities and maintain technological advantages, according to a key figure in this program. Lin Baojun, a chief designer of Beidou’s third-generation satellite, said at a news conference in Beijing on Monday that once a satellite is launched, it is virtually impossible for its hardware to be modified, so designers and engineers need to optimize its […]

Photo: PhonlamaiPhoto/iStock / Getty Images Plus/Getty Images The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has awarded $3.3 million in research, education and training grants to universities that comprise the FAA’s Air Transportation Center of Excellence (COE) for Unmanned Aircraft Systems, also known as the Alliance for System Safety of UAS through Research Excellence (ASSURE). “These grants will help develop a greater array of innovative strategies to more effectively deploy drones during emergency response situations,” said U.S. Transportation […]

Although launched more than one month ago, the official operation of the 55th and last satellite of the Beidou-3 Navigation Satellite System was formally announced by President Xi Jinping at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on Friday. Which makes the BDS system one of the four global navigation systems providing global navigation and positioning services; the other three are the United States’ GPS, Russia’s Glonass-M and […]

The U.S. Space Force Space and Missile Systems Center on July 14 delivered the fourth GPS III satellite to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The satellite is scheduled for launch on Sept. 30. GPS III Space Vehicle (SV) 04 was safely transported from the Lockheed Martin facility in Waterton, Colorado to Space Coast Regional Airport in Titusville, Florida. The satellite was carried aboard a C-17 Globemaster III originating from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington. The […]

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President Xi Jinping announced on Friday that China’s Beidou Navigation Satellite System has been completed and has started providing full-scale global services that day. Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, declared the commissioning of the global navigation and positioning system’s third-generation network at a ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. General […]