GPS constellation has upgraded control system

The US Air Force’s Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation has a new fully operational upgraded ground control system, Lockheed Martin announced on 1 December.

The upgrade, known as the Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Upgrade #2 (CUP2) project – is part of a multi-year plan to refresh the GPS system’s operational command and control segment.

The new technology became fully operational in mid-October, and began managing the 31 GPS IIR, IIR-M and IIF satellites that make up the GPS constellation.

The upgrade included the installation of modern commercial hardware and a major software upgrade that enhances the system’s ability to protect data and infrastructure from cyber threats, as well as improve its overall sustainability and operability.

The air force awarded Lockheed Martin the CUP2 project in November 2013. The system is now fully deployed into the Architecture Evolution Plan’s GPS Master Control Station and Alternate Master Control Station. 

As part of Contingency Operations (COps) Lockheed Martin has also demonstrated a preliminary design to build off CUP2 and further upgrade the AEP to support next generation GPS III satellites as they perform their positioning, navigation and timing mission. COps is a temporary gap filler prior to the entire GPS constellation’s transition onto the next-generation Operational Control System Block 1, which is currently in development.