Antennas Ready for First GPS III Satellite

Lockheed Martin has completed the antennas for the first Global Positioning System III navigation satellite and is preparing to install them in the spacecraft, announced the company. The seven antennas, produced at Lockheed Martin’s facility in Newtown, Pa., arrived at the company’s processing facility near Denver on July 14, states the company’s release. Lockheed Martin technicians will integrate them with the space vehicle, SV 01, there, according to the release. The antennas “will transmit data utilized by more than one billion users with navigation, positioning, and timing needs,” said Keoki Jackson, Lockheed Martin’s vice president for navigation systems. Production of the first GPS III satellite continues on schedule for its planned delivery to the Air Force in 2014, states the release. Among their features, GPS III satellites are designed to provide better accuracy and resistance to jamming. (See also Second GPS III Launch-Readiness Exercise Completed.)