The U.S. Air Force exercised a contract line item for the satellite, which will be built at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Sunnyvale, Calif. The U.S. Department of Defense’s Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo, Calif. is the contracting activity for the cost-plus-award-fee contract.

   Lockheed Martin also is providing a launch checkout system for the Air Force’s GPS 3 program before its deployment in 2014. The Pentagon said it expects that project to finish by Dec. 8, 2020.

   Separately, Lockheed Martin announced that it has successfully completed a milestone final integrated system test for the U.S. Air Force’s second Space Based Infrared System (SBIRS) geosynchronous satellite (GEO-2). The milestone verified the spacecraft’s performance and functionality in preparation for delivery to the launch site.

   SBIRS aims to deliver improved missile warning capabilities for the nation while simultaneously providing significant contributions to the military’s missile defense.

   The completed test puts SBIRS GEO-2 on schedule for launch as early as July of this year. Lockheed Martin said an official launch date would be determined by the Air Force based on launch range and booster availability. Once a launch date is identified, Lockheed Martin will then perform final spacecraft component installations and conduct a final factory confidence test prior to delivering the satellite to its launch facility at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.

   “Leveraging the experience gained from GEO-1, we were able to streamline the GEO-2 test schedule and efficiently prepare this critical spacecraft for delivery,” Lockheed Martin Director of SBIRS Space Vehicle Products Julie Pecson said in a statement. “We are focused on preparing this satellite for launch and driving even greater efficiency and affordability into building the next set of SBIRS satellites and hosted payloads.”

   Lockheed Martin SBIRS contracts include four highly elliptical orbiting (HEO) payloads, four GEO satellites and ground assets to receive, process and disseminate the infrared mission data. HEO payloads and the first geosynchronous (GEO-1) satellite have already been launched, with GEO-2 scheduled for launch availability in July.