ITT Exelis has completed acceptance testing of the navigation payload element for the U.S. Air Force’s Global Positioning System 3 (GPS 3) Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) and has shipped the pathfinder unit to Lockheed Martin’s Denver, Colorado facility for further testing and integration into the space vehicle, ITT Exelis announced Oct. 4.
   By replacing and enhancing current GPS satellites, the GPS III program aims to improve the spacecraft’s design life and to provide a new civil signal created to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems, while being more accurate and jam-resistant.
   “The completion of this program milestone is testimony to the fact that we are focused on delivering GPS 3 capabilities to meet the needs of more than 1 billion users worldwide,” ITT Exelis Geospatial Systems Vice President and General Manager, Precision Instruments and Positioning, Navigation and Timing Systems, Mark Pisani said in a statement. “We are excited for the next step in this program—delivering the Exelis navigation panel to Lockheed Martin for integration into the space vehicle.”
   The Global Positioning Systems Directorate at the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center leads the GPS 3 program and team. The GPS 3 team includes Lockheed Martin as the prime contractor, with partners including ITT Exelis, General Dynamics, Infinity Systems Engineering, Honeywell, ATK and other subcontractors. Air Force Space Command’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS) manages and operates the GPS constellation for civil and military users.