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February 15, 2011 marks 10 years of successful in-orbit operations for the seventh GPS Block IIR (GPS IIR-7/SVN-54) satellite. It was originally launched on January 30, 2001 and declared operational February 15, 2001. The satellite is one of 21 IIR satellites in orbit, designed and built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems Company, delivering critical position, navigation and timing signals to GPS devices and their users all over the world.

These satellites, collectively known as the GPS constellation, currently send signals to nearly one billion GPS devices worldwide. This information has been used to improve a wide variety of military, civil, scientific and commercial functions.

The constellation provides critical precision weapon guidance and situational awareness to the military, as well as reducing response times for emergency services. The satellites also increase productivity in construction, mining, farming, package delivery and even surveying. The GPS constellation has an impressive reliability record of 99.9 percent.

The popularity and usefulness of GPS devices has far surpassed the expectations of their original design. Lockheed Martin have a new generation of GPS spacecraft in the works to meet the increasing demands, called GPS III.

Joe Trench, vice president of Lockheed Martin’s Navigation Systems department said the following, “The longevity and reliability of GPS IIR-7/SVN-54 is a testament to the joint government-industry team that together has built and is operating the most robust GPS constellation in history. As this spacecraft now begins operating beyond its design life, we look forward to delivering the next generation of GPS III spacecraft to affordably meet the growing and ever expanding military, civilian and commercial user needs now and well into the future.”

Formal approval to start production was granted December 17, 2010, by the Annual GPS Enterprise Review. The team is currently on track to deliver the first of eight total GPS IIIA satellites in 2014. The new generation of satellites will be three times more accurate and three times more powerful for military signals. The satellite’s design will also be revamped to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems.

Article Written by Marisa O’Connor