Last GPS IIR Satellite Complete, Ready For Cape Canaveral June Launch

The final Global Position System Block IIR satellite is complete and ready for shipment to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for a June launch, Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] announced.

Lockheed leads a team that will compete for the multi-billion-dollar Air Force GPS Block III contract in the current April-June quarter.

That GPS Block IIR constellation of eight satellites will provide improved operations and navigation signal performance for military and civilian GPS users around the globe

Work on the final IIR-M satellite was completed one month ahead of schedule and in less than one year after the Air Force gave Lockheed a $6-million contract to develop the demonstration payload.

It will transmit a third civil signal located on the L5 frequency (1176.45MHz). The signal will comply with international radio frequency spectrum requirements.

Future generations of GPS spacecraft will include an operational third civil signal to improve the accuracy and performance capabilities of the system.

Completion of the bird was celebrated as well by ITT Corp. [ITT], Aerospace Corp. and the Air Force.

Lockheed Martin Space Systems at Valley Forge, Pa., is the prime contractor for the GPS IIR program. The company designed and built 21 IIR spacecraft for the Global Positioning Systems Wing of the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., which will award the contract.

The final eight spacecraft, designated GPS IIR-M, were modernized to enhance operations and navigation signal performance for military and civilian GPS users around the globe.

ITT supplied all 21 navigation payloads for both the IIR and IIR-M spacecraft as well as the L5 demonstration payload components.

The operational GPS constellation has been significantly enhanced by the launch and successful initialization of three IIR-M spacecraft within the last six months, according to Lockheed.

The GPS constellation provides situational awareness and precision-weapon guidance. GPS also supports a wide range of civil, scientific and commercial functions, from air traffic control to the Internet, with precision location and timing information.

The Global Positioning System enables properly equipped users to determine precise time and velocity and worldwide latitude, longitude and altitude to within a few meters. Air Force Space Command’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron (2SOPS), based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.

Lockheed Martin is also leading a team which includes ITT and General Dynamics in the competition to build the next-generation Global Positioning System, GPS Block III. It will improve position, navigation, and timing services for the warfighter and civil users worldwide and provide advanced anti-jam capabilities yielding improved system security, accuracy and reliability.

Arianespace Set For Twin Satellite Launch Next Week On April 18

Arianespace is poised to launch an Ariane 5 on April 18, which will orbit two satellites, lifting off from the spaceport in French Guiana, South America.

The Ariane 5 moved to the Final Assembly Building, marking delivery of the second launcher this year.

The Ariane 5 will carry the Star One C2 and VINASAT-1 telecommunications satellites.

The rocket rolled out from the Launcher Integration Building to the Final Assembly Building last week, using the spaceport rail transportation infrastructure. The transfer represented this vehicle’s formal handover from industrial prime contractor Astrium, which was responsible for its build-up, to Arianespace for payload installation and the subsequent launch operations.

The April 18 mission will carry a combined satellite payload mass of approximately 6,700 kg.

In the Ariane 5 dual-passenger configuration, Star One C2 will be riding in the upper payload position and is to be released first during the flight sequence. VINASAT-1 is the mission’s lower passenger, housed inside the Sylda 5 dispenser system, and it will be deployed approximately 31 minutes after liftoff.

Star One C2 was built by Thales Alenia Space for Brazil’s Star One telecommunications operator, and carries a payload of 28 C-band transponders, 16 Ku-band transponders, and one X-band transponder. It is based on Thales Alenia Space’s Spacebus 3000B3 platform, and will have a liftoff mass of 4,100 kg.

VINASAT-1 is a Lockheed Martin Corp. [LMT] Commercial Space Systems-produced spacecraft for operation by the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group. This is the first Vietnamese telecommunications satellite, and the 2,600-kg. platform is equipped with 20 C- and Ku-band transponders.

Arianespace is planning seven Ariane 5 missions in 2008, making it the busiest year of mission activity since the launcher’s commercial introduction in 1999. The first flight of 2008 lifted off on March 9, when an Ariane 5 lofted the first European Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) for the International Space Station.

Launch Schedule

2008

Date: May 16

Mission: GLAST

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17 – Pad 17-B

Launch Window: 11:45 a.m. to 1:40 p.m. EDT

Description: An heir to its successful predecessor — the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory — the Gamma-ray Large Area Space Telescope will have the ability to detect gamma rays in a range of energies from thousands to hundreds of billions of times more energetic than the light visible to the human eye. Radiation of such magnitude can only be generated under the most extreme conditions, thus GLAST will focus on studying the most energetic objects and phenomena in the universe.

Date: May 31 +

Mission: STS-124

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A

Launch Time: 5:01 p.m. EDT

Description: Space Shuttle Discovery on mission STS-124 will transport the Kibo Japanese Experiment Module – Pressurized Module (JEM-PM) and the Japanese Remote Manipulator System (JEM-RMS) to the International Space Station.

Date: June 15

Mission: OSTM

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2

Launch Time: 4:47 a.m. EDT/1:47 a.m. PDT

Description: The Ocean Surface Topography Mission on the Jason-2 satellite will be a follow-on to the Jason mission.

Date: July 15

Mission: IBEX

Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Pegasus XL Rocket

Launch Site: Reagan Test Site, Kwajalein Atoll

Description: IBEX’s science objective is to discover the global interaction between the solar wind and the interstellar medium and will achieve this objective by taking a set of global energetic neutral atom images that will answer four fundamental science questions.

Date: Aug. 28 +

Mission: STS-125

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Atlantis

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A

Launch Time: 8:24 a.m. EDT

Description: Space Shuttle Atlantis will fly seven astronauts into space for the fifth and final servicing mission to the Hubble Space Telescope. During the 11-day flight, the crew will repair and improve the observatory’s capabilities through 2013.

Date: Sept. 14 +

Mission: TacSat-3

Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Minotaur Rocket

Launch Site: Wallops Flight Facility – Goddard Space Flight Center

Description: NASA will support the Air Force launch of the TacSat-3 satellite, managed by the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate. TacSat-3 will demonstrate the capability to furnish real-time data to the combatant commander. NASA Ames will fly a microsat and NASA Wallops will fly the CubeSats on this flight in addition to providing the launch range.

Date: Oct. 16 +

Mission: STS-126

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Endeavour

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space Shuttle Endeavour launching on assembly flight ULF2, will deliver a Multi-Purpose Logistics Module to the International Space Station.

Date: Oct. 28

Mission: LRO/LCROSS

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41

Description: The mission objectives of the Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite are to advance the Vision for Space Exploration by confirming the presence or absence of water ice in a permanently shadowed crater at either the Moon’s North or South Pole.

Date: Nov. 5

Mission: GOES-O

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta IV

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17

Description: NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are actively engaged in a cooperative program, the multimission Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite series N-P. This series will be a vital contributor to weather, solar and space operations, and science.

Date: Dec. 1 *

Mission: SDO

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Atlas V

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 41

Description: The first Space Weather Research Network mission in the Living With a Star (LWS) Program of NASA.

Date: Dec. 4 +

Mission: STS-119

Launch Vehicle: Space Shuttle Discovery

Launch Site: Kennedy Space Center – Launch Pad 39A

Description: Space Shuttle Discovery launching on assembly flight 15A, will deliver the fourth starboard truss segment to the International Space Station.

Date: Dec. 15

Mission: OCO

Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E

Description: The Orbiting Carbon Observatory is a new Earth orbiting mission sponsored by NASA’s Earth System Science Pathfinder Program.

2009

Date: Feb. 1

Mission: NOAA-N Prime

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC-2

Description: NOAA-N Prime is the latest polar-orbiting satellite developed by NASA/Goddard Spaceflight Center for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA uses two satellites, a morning and afternoon satellite, to ensure every part of the Earth is observed at least twice every 12 hours. NOAA-N will collect information about Earth’s atmosphere and environment to improve weather prediction and climate research across the globe.

Date: Feb. 16

Mission: Kepler

Launch Vehicle: United Launch Alliance Delta II

Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Air Force Station – Launch Complex 17 – Pad 17-B

Description: The Kepler Mission, a NASA Discovery mission, is specifically designed to survey our region of the Milky Way galaxy to detect and characterize hundreds of Earth- size and smaller planets in or near the habitable zone.

Date: March 1

Mission: Glory

Launch Vehicle: Orbital Sciences Taurus Rocket

Launch Site: Vandenberg Air Force Base – Launch Pad SLC 576-E

Description: The Glory Mission will help increase our understanding of the Earth’s energy balance by collecting data on the properties of aerosols and black carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere and how the Sun’s irradiance affects the Earth’s climate.