COLORADO SPRINGS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Work on the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning System ground control is complete, Lockheed Martin announced.
The recent update, known as the Commercial Off-The-Shelf Upgrade 2, or CUP2, marked the latest step in the multi-year plan to upgrade the technology. The update improves the system's infrastructure, allowing operators to manage 31 GPS IIR, IIR-M, and IIF satellites more efficiently.
"Under CUP2, Lockheed Martin and the Air Force installed modern commercial hardware and a major software upgrade that enhances the system's ability to protect data and infrastructure from cyber threats, as well as improves its overall sustainability and operability," Lockheed Martin Mission Solutions general manager Vinny Sica explained in a press release. "Continued modernization and cyber-hardening of the GPS control system is vitally important to the sustainment of navigation services for our military and all global GPS users."
Lockheed Martin initially received the contract to support the Ground Control Segment project in November 2013. The completion marks the third major technology refresh for the GPS system since January of that same year.
The Ground Control Segment is a network ground-level facilities responsible for managing transmissions, performing data analysis, and issuing commands to GPS satellites. The network is comprised of a master control station, 11 command and control antennas, and 15 monitoring sites.
