Lockheed Martin’s fourth GPS III satellite, GPS III SV04. Photo: Harris

Harris provided Lockheed Martin with its sixth of ten navigation payloads contracted for the U.S. Air Force’s GPS III satellite program. The GPS III navigation payload features a Mission Data Unit (MDU) with a 70 percent digital design that links atomic clocks, radiation-hardened processors and powerful transmitters – helping enable signals to be more accurate than those on current Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. The payload also boosts signal power, which increases jamming resistance and helps extend the satellite’s lifespan.

Harris is committed to delivering a seventh navigation payload by the end of 2018. This latest payload delivery is the third payload Lockheed Martin has received in the last 12 months.

Harris navigation payloads are already integrated on five GPS III satellites. In August, the first GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV01) shipped to Florida for an expected December launch. Also in August, the Air Force declared GPS III SV02 Available for Launch (AFL) for an expected 2019 launch. GPS III SV03 and SV04 are fully assembled and in environmental testing. GPS III SV05 was integrated with its payload this fall and will begin system testing later this year.