EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Although Boeing [BA] will complete its Global Positioning System IIF (GPS IIF) contract this year, a key executive said last week the company will continue to invest in precision, navigation and timing (PNT) capabilities in preparation for possible Defense Department interest.
“We’re not out of the game,” Boeing Vice President and General Manager of Space Intelligence Systems Craig Cooning told reporters here at the company’s satellite factory near Los Angeles International Airport. “We’re going to keep making the appropriate investments because we believe our technology and the expertise of our people in our electronic products is something, ultimately, the government is going to want.”
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| Boeing Vice President and General Manager of Space Intelligence Systems Craig Cooning. Photo: Boeing. |
Boeing is looking at alternative architectures for the GPS payload of the future, specifically, a digital alternative, Cooning said. When Boeing bid for the Air Force’s next generation GPS III contract that ultimately went to Lockheed Martin [LMT], Cooning said the company offered its own payload design that included a certain digital technology and processing capability based off its Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) channelizer. Cooning said this could also be part of a future mainstream payload for GPS.
The Air Force is also conducting market research to identify parties with the capability to build a small, affordable navigation satellite (NavSat) based on commercially-available production spacecraft, according to a request for information (RFI) posted on Federal Business Opportunities. The RFI said the Air Force is specifically looking for the feasibility of using a spacecraft bus produced on an established, sustainable production/product line that could accommodate the Government-Furnished-Equipment (GFE) NavSat payload. The Air Force said it anticipated the authority to proceed for this satellite in early fiscal year 2015 with a satellite launch in FY ’18.
Cooning, who also described the NavSat GPS augmentation demonstration query as looking to deliver a cheaper capability from a systems level, said Boeing would respond to the Air Force’s NavSat request for information (RFI).
“We’re going to continue to make investments so when the Air Force does come back and say ‘We’re looking for different, or other ways, to do the GPS mission,’ we’re going to be ready,” Cooning said.
Cooning said although Boeing will complete its GPS IIF contract this year with the production of its 12th and final satellite, it will continue to perform services for the Air Force as the company is under contract to perform launch and on-orbit support for GPS IIF through 2017. The Air Force has launched four GPS IIF satellites to date. Cooning said Boeing will have seven GPS IIF satellites in storage by the end of 2013.
Boeing sees additional opportunities in its Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) line of satellites as Cooning said the Air Force is looking at future opportunities for additional foreign customers to purchase WGS satellites. The Air Force earlier this month launched WGS-6, which was notable for its international partnership as Australia supported the cost of the satellite under a teaming agreement. The WGS constellation provides anytime, anywhere communication for the warfighter through broadcast, multicast and point-to-point connections, according to launch provider United Launch Alliance (ULA), a Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture. WGS is also the only military satellite communication system that can support simultaneous X- and Ka-band communications (Defense Daily, Aug. 9).
Cooning said Boeing will continue to offer firm-fixed price contract bases for future WGS satellite, which he believes offer very attractive pricing opportunities for both the Air Force and potential allied customers. Firm-fixed price contracts are usually beneficial to governments as contractors are responsible for cost overruns.