Jay Clemens
Lockheed Martin and partners have activated the bus and network communications payload of a second satellite for the U.S. Air Force“™s GPS system.
The team worked to turn on the power of the GPS III Space Vehicle 2 on Dec. 19 at Lockheed“™s Denver-based facility in order to exhibit the satellite“™s mechanical integration and interfaces, Lockheed said Wednesday.
Mark Stewart, vice president for Lockheed“™s navigation systems mission area, said the activation aligns the GPS III SV-02 bus with the Air Force“™s first GPS III space vehicle.
The satellite features a propulsion core module for orbital maneuvering functions, Lockheed says.
GPS III satellites are built to transmit a new civil signal that is intended to work with other navigation satellite systems.
Lockheed’s GPS III team includes Exelis, General Dynamics, Infinity Systems Engineering, Honeywell and ATK.
