Raytheon GPS OCX passes SRR

AURORA, Colo., April 2 (UPI) -- U.S. company Raytheon's Control Segment for the GPS program has passed its Systems Requirement Review.

Raytheon said in a statement Friday that the next-generation Control Segment -- OCX -- it is building for the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System program had passed its System Requirements Review.

Raytheon called the development a "milestone" for the OCX program, saying it has now met the USAF's system engineering standard acceptance criteria.

The Control Segment is planned to progress in four stages: Raytheon said stage one had been to ensure the operation at full capabilities of the current GPS Block II satellites. Future stages of the program will create new net-centric and navigation warfare capabilities for the system and put into orbit the first next-generation GPS Block III space satellites.

"This important accomplishment demonstrates our commitment to the maturity and readiness to provide the lowest-risk and best-value solution for both the military and civil users worldwide," said Bob Canty, vice president and program manager of GPS OCX for Raytheon Intelligence and Information Systems' Space Systems.

"In completing the SRR early in the program, the Raytheon OCX team is poised to significantly reduce risk for the remaining program milestones," Canty said.

Raytheon said it was working under an 18-month, $160 million contract administered by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., for the first phase of the GPS OCX program.