A Block Off The Other Blocks Passes Tests

Testing… testing… electrical power system, attitude determination and control system, telemetry, tracking and command and navigation payload… wow, they’re all working as they should and have been integrated properly into the satellite. That’s the word from the Global Positioning Wing who has successfully passed the Initial Integrated System Test on the first GPS Block IIF satellite at the Boeing Spacecraft Development Center in El Segundo, California. The results all reveal he functional and performance requirements have been met.



This test represents the first test of an integrated satellite and also establishes a performance baseline before entering environmental testing. Engineers can better analyze the data generated throughout the duration of the testing period through use of the baseline data. The satellite is now ready to enter acoustic, separation and thermal vacuum testing.



The GPS Block IIF satellite is the nextgen of GPS space vehicles. The 12 satellites being built provide all of the capabilities of the previous blocks with these additional benefits: an extended design life of 12 years; faster processors with more memory and a new civil signal on a third frequency (L5), which is to be augmented by Federal Aviation Administration’s Wide-Area Augmentation System (WAAS) to improve safety-of-life applications for civil and commercial aviation. Additionally, the L2-L5 signal combo ensures high accuracy “tri-lane” phase navigation. The first GPS Block IIF satellite is scheduled for a 2008 launch from Cape Canaveral, Florida—Los Angeles Air Force Base, California—August 31, 2007