NEWTOWN, Pa., Sept. 5, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Raytheon Company [NYSE: RTN] and Lockheed Martin [NYSE: LMT] have successfully completed the first launch readiness exercise for the U.S. Air Force's next generation GPS III satellites. The exercise is a key milestone demonstrating the team remains on schedule to achieve launch availability in 2014.

The Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellites and the Raytheon-developed next generation GPS operational control system, known as OCX, are critical elements of the U.S. Air Force's effort to affordably replace aging GPS satellites while improving capability to meet the evolving demands of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide. This is the first space and ground enterprise successfully building the ground control and space vehicles by two independent prime contractors.

The launch readiness exercise, completed over a three day period by mission operations personnel, validated the basic satellite command and control functions, tested the software and hardware interfaces and demonstrated basic on-console procedures required for space vehicle contacts during the launch and early orbit mission. The event sets the stage for the first GPS III satellite's mission readiness timeline, which includes five short-duration exercises and six, five day mission rehearsals leading up to launch.

"Completion of our first GPS III launch readiness exercise is a major milestone for the entire GPS enterprise and is a solid indictor that our space and ground segments are well synchronized," said Col Bernie Gruber, the director of the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning Systems Directorate.

To achieve first launch availability in the 2014 timeframe, the U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin and Raytheon contracts in January of this year to provide a Launch and Checkout Capability (LCC) for launch and early on-orbit testing of all GPS III satellites. At the heart of the LCC is Raytheon's Launch and Checkout System that will provide satellite command and control capability, an integral part of OCX's support of the first GPS III launch.

"The completion of our first launch readiness exercise is an important milestone for the entire GPS enterprise," said Keoki Jackson, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Navigation Systems mission area. "This achievement is a testament to efficient planning and synchronization by the U.S. Air Force and demonstrates that we are on track to deliver critical GPS III capabilities to military, commercial and civilian users worldwide."

"This milestone represents the hard work and dedication of the entire GPS III and OCX government-industry team," stated Ray Kolibaba, a vice president of Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems business and GPS OCX program manager. "This is another demonstration of the rapid progress we're making on OCX development, while maintaining GPS space-ground enterprise alignment. I'm confident that we'll be prepared to support the first GPS III launch with an efficient, evolvable and secure ground control system built independently."

The GPS III team is led by the Global Positioning Systems Directorate at the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center. Air Force Space Command, based at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., manages and operates the GPS constellation for both civil and military users.

About Lockheed Martin
Headquartered in Bethesda, Md., Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs about 120,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. The corporation's net sales for 2011 were $46.5 billion.

About Raytheon
Raytheon Company, with 2011 sales of $25 billion and 71,000 employees worldwide, is a technology and innovation leader specializing in defense, homeland security and other government markets throughout the world. With a history of innovation spanning 90 years, Raytheon provides state-of-the-art electronics, mission systems integration and other capabilities in the areas of sensing; effects; and command, control, communications and intelligence systems, as well as a broad range of mission support services. Raytheon is headquartered in Waltham, Mass. For more about Raytheon, visit us at www.raytheon.com and follow us on Twitter at @raytheon.

Note to Editors:
GPS III video and high-resolution images are available for download at www.lockheedmartin.com/gps

Media Contacts: 

Lockheed Martin
Michael Friedman
303-971-7255
michael.1.friedman@lmco.com   

Raytheon
Kim Warth
720.292.0249
Kim.J.Warth@Raytheon.com

SOURCE Lockheed Martin