[amsat-bb] Re: Good Night, Loran

Daniel Kekez va3kkz at amsat.org
Tue Feb 9 14:03:01 PST 2010


On 2010-02-09 10:52 , tosca005 at umn.edu wrote:
> Does the US government NOT have any plans to launch any more GPS satellites?

There will be more but of somewhat different design with better 
capabilities for terrestrial use. (Although potentially worse signals 
*above* the constellation, which is a concern for GPS receivers on HEO 
missions. I recall a presentation at the 2004 AMSAT Symposium on this. 
I'm not if this has changed.)

The last of the Block IIR-M satellites (8) were added to the 
constellation between 2005 and 2009. Those launched on Delta II vehicles.

There will be twelve follow-on satellites, known as the Block IIF 
series, and the first is planned to launch this year. They are being 
developed by Boeing and will launch on the Delta IV.

After that series, there will be more designated Block III with more 
advanced capabilities, although a contractor won't be selected until 
next year for these.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_satellite
and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPS_modernization
for good introductions.

73,
-Daniel, VA3KKZ


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