A national team led by Lockheed Martin has been selected by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to provide ground stations and broadcast services that will support satellite navigation signals for aviation use in the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). The award, with an initial amount of $34 million, has a potential value of $597 million, if contract options for additional satellite services are exercised.

The FAA's two-year Geostationary Communications and Control Segment (GCCS) program also includes options that would lengthen the contract. These include options to lease satellite communications services on 10-year terms. Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management is the large system integrator for the program and will integrate elements of the GCCS system. Lockheed Martin is joined on this program by teammates the Boeing Co., and Raytheon.

"GCCS will enable WAAS realization and help make satellite-based navigation for aviation a reality," said Don Antonucci, president, Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management. "Our National Team will apply its collective expertise in helping the FAA realize its goal of improved safety and reliability for aviation users. GCCS supports our goals of broadening our business beyond traditional air traffic automation."

WAAS is a GPS-based navigation and landing system for aviation use that will provide precision guidance to aircraft at thousands of airports and airstrips where there is currently no precision landing capability. WAAS improves the accuracy and ensures the integrity of navigation information from GPS satellites. The WAAS broadcast message improves GPS signal accuracy from 100 meters to approximately seven meters.

GCCS will help provide the initial flight navigation capability for precision approaches to runways through the full operational capability of WAAS that will come later.

Lockheed Martin and its teammates will provide ground uplink stations that collect Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation data that has been corrected and enhanced for accuracy, and also the technology to broadcast the data as signals to geostationary communications satellites. The satellites send the augmented GPS navigation signals to in-flight aircraft equipped to receive them. The FAA can exercise options for additional leased satellite communications services.

Teammates Boeing and Raytheon provide expertise in areas of uplink communications and navigation services, respectively.

Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management has had a contract for broadcast services, the WAAS GEO program, since 2001 to provide satellite communications uplink services from multiple sites.

Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management has four decades of experience in delivering advanced aviation management solutions to customers worldwide, and focuses on systems integration, engineering design, development, test, delivery and support of Communications, Navigation, Surveillance (CNS/ATM) systems. With its solid record of on-schedule, on-budget performance, the company has earned the prestigious Air Traffic Control Association's Industry Award in four of the last six years. A registered ISO 9001 company, Air Traffic Management employs approximately 1,300 people at major facilities in Rockville, Atlantic City, N.J., Eagan, Minn., and Southampton, England.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global enterprise principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture and integration of advanced-technology systems, products and services. The Corporation's core businesses are systems integration, space, aeronautics, and technology services.

For additional information on Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management visit: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/atm

For additional information on Lockheed Martin Corporation visit: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/

SOURCE: Lockheed Martin Air Traffic Management