A Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite called SV-2 took a transcontinental flight on a C-17 from California to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., but only for a visit, not for a launch into space.

The navigation satellite instead will be used as a guinea pig for testing a wide array of systems, to help prepare for the launch of its sister vehicle, SV-1, which is the first of 12 GPS IIF satellites, The Boeing Co. [BA] announced.

SV-2 was built in a Boeing plant at El Segundo, Calif., and after all the testing in Florida is finished, SV-2 will take another nationwide ride back to the plant, to prepare for the day when it will be launched into space.

In Florida, SV-2 is being used to execute a consolidated system test (CST), which is a set of one-time, system-level design validation tests involving the space vehicle, the ground-based control segment, and user equipment.

SV-2 also is being used as a pathfinder to validate satellite transportation processes and equipment, and to validate the launch site test program, procedures and equipment.

"The shipment of this pathfinder satellite keeps GPS IIF on track for its first launch, and continues Boeing’s long, successful history of building GPS satellites for the U.S. Air Force," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems. "The GPS IIF system will bring more capability and improved mission performance to the GPS constellation."

GPS IIF is the product of Boeing’s experience with 39 successful satellites from the GPS Block I and Block II/IIA missions and more than 30 years of teamwork with the Air Force. GPS IIF features twice the navigational accuracy of heritage satellites, more robust signals for commercial aviation and search and rescue, and greater resistance to jamming in hostile environments.

It will form the core of the constellation for many years to come.

GPS is a space-based, worldwide navigation system providing users with highly accurate, three-dimensional position, velocity and timing information 24 hours a day in all weather conditions.