Space Force launches experimental satellite tv for pc to tell future GPS

The Pentagon launched its first experimental navigation satellite tv for pc in practically 50 years, aiming to check out new expertise that would form future navy GPS packages. 

United Launch Alliance’s new Vulcan rocket launched the Navigation Technology Satellite-3 from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Tuesday. The satellite tv for pc will take a look at new anti-spoofing indicators, a steerable phased-array antenna to ship indicators to floor forces in high-jamming areas, and receivers to assist the satellite tv for pc function with out directions from floor controllers, Joanna Hicks, a senior analysis aerospace engineer on the Air Force Research Laboratory, advised reporters Monday forward of the launch.

The Pentagon and AFRL spent about $250 million to develop the NTS-3 satellite tv for pc and the bottom system, and L3Harris was the prime contractor for this system. 

The satellite tv for pc was constructed to be reprogrammed from the bottom, “so we don’t have to have everything planned out before we go on orbit and before we see what the threats are,” Hicks stated.

The program goals to construct resiliency within the navy’s GPS constellation, but additionally to pave the best way for brand spanking new place, navigating, and timing capabilities. Most of the service’s PNT satellites are in medium-Earth orbit, however NTS-3 will probably be despatched to geostationary-Earth orbit to experiment with completely different positioning for the mission. 

“One of the things that NTS-3 is testing…is the multi-orbit constellation concept. So can we receive signals from NTS-3 at GEO as well as GPS at MEO, and take advantage of all of them? Maybe in the future, we’ll be able to put some of these technologies in [low-Earth orbit], for example. We don’t currently have that as a planned mission, but that’s something that could conceivably happen in the future,” Hicks stated.

The final experimental navigation satellite was launched virtually 50 years in the past, Hicks stated: “At the lab, we think that we are overdue for an experiment in this area.”

The mission was imagined to launch in 2022, however delays with ULA’s Vulcan pushed it to this yr. During that downtime, Hicks stated this system added capabilities and experimental indicators: “We’ve really been able to take advantage of that and make sure that we are ready for the best possible experimental mission on orbit.”

The group expects to start out amassing knowledge inside just a few weeks, and your complete mission will final a couple of yr. AFRL doesn’t plan on utilizing the satellite tv for pc in precise operations after the yr is up, however they’re working with “some organizations to talk about how they might use leftover capabilities for testing,” Hicks stated.

Tuesday’s launch additionally marks a milestone for ULA: it’s the primary national-security mission to fly on the corporate’s new heavy-lift Vulcan rocket. The rocket has been late to launch resulting from improvement issues and certification delays after materials broke off one of many stable rocket boosters throughout its second flight in October. 

Vulcan was imagined to launch 4 Space Force missions final yr, however that was diminished to 2 and pushed to this yr. The firm goals to launch twice a month, with a mixture of Vulcan and Atlas rockets, by the tip of the yr—dealing with stress to clear a backlog of missions which have stacked up resulting from Vulcan delays. Tuesday’s launch is the primary of 25 launches the Space Force has ordered from ULA in part two of the National Security Space Launch program. 

“We obviously have a backlog of missions that we’re working through…I will say that we’re ready and postured to launch as quickly as we can as we work through that backlog,” stated Col. Jim Horne, Space Systems Command mission director.