[Satellite Today – 1-16-08] The joint U.S. Air Force/Lockheed Martin team has completed the on-orbit deployment of the modernized GPS System Block 2R (GPS 2R-M) satellite with the announcement that the satellite is fully operational for military and civilian navigation users around the globe, Lockheed Martin announced Jan. 16.
    Lockheed Martin’s operations team assisted the Air Force Space Command’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) and its Reserve associate unit 19 SOPS based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo. with the launch and early orbit operations. The team conducted the on-orbit deployment and checkout of all spacecraft systems in just over three days. Upon completion of navigation payload initialization, the satellite was declared operational on Jan. 2 for both civil and military users.
The satellite is the fifth in a series of eight Block 2R-M spacecraft, which includes a modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide users with an open access signal on a different frequency.
    A multi-billion dollar development contract for the next generation GPS program, GPS Block 3, will be awarded by the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif. in early 2008.