Lockheed Martin announced last week that the GPS III team it is leading had “successfully completed the Preliminary Design Review stage,” enabling the team to begin the Critical Design Review phase. Teaming with Lockheed on the next-generation Global Positioning System III satellite program is ITT and General Dynamics. “The quality of the PDR demonstrates the maturity of our design, our readiness to enter the next development phase, and the entire team’s dedication to keeping the GPS constellation strong,” said Dave Podlesney, Lockheed’s GPS III program director. A $3 billion development and production contract awarded in May 2008 calls for Lockheed to produce up to 12 GPS III Block A satellites (see above “No ‘Battlestar Galactica’ Here”) with projected first launch in 2014.
The U.S. military is carrying out intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions along the southern border and off the coast of Mexico using U.S. Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint and U.S. Navy P-8 Poseidon aircraft as part of the Pentagon’s effort to secure the southern border at the direction of President…