spacetoday.net: Boeing, Lockheed win GPS 3 study contracts

Posted: Tue, Jan 6, 2004, 11:45 PM ET (0445 GMT)
GPS 2F spacecraft illustration (Boeing)

The Air Force awarded Boeing and Lockheed Martin study contracts Monday for the next generation of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites. Each company will receive $20.8 million to work on designs for the GPS 3 satellites, an improved version of existing satellites that would feature improved accuracy and greater resistance to jamming. The contracts run through December 2005, although the major milestone in the work will be a system requirements review in the fourth quarter of 2004. An Air Force spokesman told Reuters that the military is planning to award a single contract for the GPS 3 system in early 2006. Deployment of GPS 3 is currently planned to begin in 2012.