Mary-Louise Hoffman
Raytheon and the U.S. Air Force have conducted an initial qualification test on a ground-based satellite launch-and-checkout platform the company has built as part of the GPS Next-Generation Operational Control System.
The company said Tuesday the LCS system is designed to help the military service manage the launch and early-orbit checkout phases of GPS III satellites.
The Air Force tested the platform in an operational environment using a government-made satellite simulator technology.
“As a result of strong collaboration with the Air Force, we were able to demonstrate the system’s performance and increase confidence in the program’s path ahead,” said Bill Sullivan, Raytheon’s GPS OCX program director.
The Air Force and Raytheon completed the LCS configuration item qualification test one month ahead of schedule and are now ready to proceed with a factory qualification test on the system.
The company was awarded a contract to update the current GPS OCX infrastructure for the Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center.
