Lockheed Martin [LMT] today said the GPS IIR-13 satellite, launched Nov. 6 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station,FL, has been declared fully operational for military and civilian navigation use. With this latest GPS bird in orbit, the GPS constellation now stands at 30 satellites. The constellation includes 12 fully operational Block IIR satellites built by Lockheed Martin. The latest launch represents the final IIR series of satellites in the GPS constellation, as Lockheed Martin will upgrade the remaining 8 IIR satellites on the ground and designate them as GPS IIR-M satellites. The upgrades will incorporate two new military and a second civilian signal for improved capabilities. The launch of the first IIR-M satellites is scheduled to occur in March 2005.

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