Late in November of 2007, Raytheon Company was awarded a US$160M, 18-month competitive contract to develop a new system design for the nexgen Global Positioning System Control Segment. The U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center awarded the contract. The system will include anti-jam capabilities, improved system security, accuracy and reliability and will all be based on a modern, service-oriented architecture to integrate government and industry open system standards.
Mr. Canty took time from his busy schedule to discuss this system award and other recent developments that should be of particular interest to the readers of MilsatMagazine. Raytheon’s Space Systems business area developes and deploys large-scale data processing systems and networks for space-related markets and customers, with their primary expertise in the area of satellite command and control. The Space Systems Division business encompasses government programs, commercial systems, DoD systems, civil programs and the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS).
Hartley
Good day, Mr. Canty, and thank you for imparting to our readers some of this most important information from Raytheon. To start, would you please describe the recent contract that Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS) was downselected to develop for the U.S. Air Force?
Robert
Certainly—Raytheon Company was one of two companies chosen to develop the system design for the Next Generation Global Positioning System (GPS) Control Segment (OCX) (Contract # FA8807-08-C-0001). GPS OCX will provide command, control and mission support for current GPS Block II and all future satellites as well as support for existing and new interfaces. The contract, awarded by the U.S. Air Force Space and Missile Command, is valued at US$160M. Following the conclusion of this 18-month phase, a 15 to 20 year development contract will be awarded to a single contractor.
Hartley
Would you please provide the functions of GPS and the different segments involved?
Robert
In GPS, there are three different segments and a Systems Integrator. The first segment is the control segment or GPS OCX. The control segment, to the first order, is the timekeeper for the system. The control segment receives all of the satellite signals and calculates the satellite ephemeris and clock updates. As necessary, the control segment commands the satellite to update clocks and position knowledge in order to maintain system timing and navigation accuracy. Optimizing the GPS System requires a number of very complex math algorithms.
The second segment is the user equipment. User equipment can be a hand held device for a soldier, a device in guided munitions, or a unit in the cockpit of an aircraft. The user equipment processes the signals from space and triangulates on a minimum of four satellites to determine its location.
The third segment is space. Twenty-four satellites are required for a full constellation. Additional satellites above twenty-four provide further redundancy and system availability. The satellites are, essentially, clocks in the sky. The GPS system sends out the time of day and the location of the satellites.
Hartley
Which of these segments is of most interest to Raytheon?
Robert
The future ground control segment, or GPS OCX, is the focus of Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems (IIS). Raytheon’s Space and Airborne Systems is currently performing on the Modernized User Equipment (MUE) contract. Raytheon has led close to 100 GPS related programs and has delivered thousands of pieces of user equipment for the DoD, civil, commercial and national markets, ranging in activities from navigation, transportation, surveying and rescue operations. There are three contractors currently performing work on the MUE. Preliminary Congressional Budget language calls for maintaining continued competition in this segment and accelerating the development of the MUE.
Hartley
What is Raytheon’s experience in developing Global Positioning Systems?
Robert
Raytheon brings more than 40 years of high availability precision satellite command and control systems experience to GPS OCX. In addition to deploying 110 unique satellite ground systems, Raytheon has a solid history of successful, time certain delivery with a 98 percent award fee average.
Raytheon is the world leader in designing and building satellite navigation augmentation and service monitoring systems for civil and military aviations applications. Raytheon is engaged with the FAA’s Wide Area Augmentation Systems (WAAS), Japan’s MTSAT Satellite-based Augmentation System (MSAS) and India’s GPS Aided GEO Augmented Navigation System (GAGAN). Raytheon is the only company to deliver a FAA-certified satellite navigation system.
Hartley
Please describe the procurement process – what are the next steps in selection and the duration for which the process will last?
Robert
The contract just awarded is to develop the system design and perform risk reduction tasks for GPS OCX. This phase with two contractors will last for 18 months concluding with a System Design Review and a Proposal Update Request from the Air Force. The Air Force will evaluate the updated proposals and select one contractor to develop the GPS control segment for the next 15-20 years.
Hartley
Why has the government procurement office opted to separate out the ground from the satellite systems instead of contracting them together?
Robert
The Air Force has separated the control segment from the satellite contract in order to address the challenging military and civil needs across the globe. The Air Force looks at GPS OCX acquisition as a pathfinder for future acquisitions. Establishing each segment as a separate contract allows better contract oversight, a commitment towards strengthening Space and Missile Systems Center’s industrial base and facilitates technology infusion into the GPS architecture.
In past acquisitions, if the space segment milestones slipped, so did the control segment milestones. Decoupling space and control segment allows for delivery of enhanced system capabilities much more rapidly. By integrating commercial best practices, enhanced automation and state-of-the-art mission management software hosted on a service-oriented architecture, OCX will provide the revolutionary opportunity to focus not just on flying satellites, but enhance services to operational users.
Therefore, time certain delivery is a critical aspect of the control segment procurement going forward. Being able to not only deliver on time, but to deliver enhanced capabilities much more rapidly, is the key to success. Our unique history of working with all satellite vendors enables our approach to time certain delivery.
Hartley
How will the Next Generation GPS differ from its predecessors?
Robert
The Next Generation GPS will provide improved position, navigation and timing services to the warfighter and civilians by improving accuracy, integrity and resistance to jamming.
A key attribute is improved accuracy of the overall system. The control segment is the key component to satisfying this need. More data points from the satellites, better predictive algorithms and more frequent clock and ephemeris updates ensure increased accuracy.
Increasing accuracy is important for future warfighting. Many evolving systems depend on improved accuracy such as persistence surveillance and the use of a small diameter bomb. To obtain the maximum effects using a small diameter bomb, high accuracy is critical in your ability to hit the target.
There are also many civil applications that can benefit from increased accuracy. For instance, modern networking takes advantage of GPS as a timing source. Better timing precision allows a network to process more packets of data. There’s a huge commercial economic benefit associated with improved accuracy to industries such as telecommunications. There are several new markets that would come online, thanks to improved accuracy, markets we can’t even envision today.
Integrity is another area of enhanced capability enabled by the control segment. Users of GPS need to know that the GPS signal is good and therefore their location is known. This is especially true for critical operations such as aircraft navigation or use of force in military operations. Critical users of GPS need a warning in a short period of time indicating that a signal is potentially misleading and should be disregarded. Raytheon has developed the only FAA certified satellite navigation system in the Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS). Our solution applies this experience to offer the Air Force a cost-effective implementation of integrity.
Hartley
How will the selection of the GPS III spacecraft contractor impact Raytheon’s bid for the ground control segment?
Robert
Raytheon builds control systems for every U.S. satellite provider. GPS OCX is required to perform with a mixed constellation of vehicles and payloads produced by different vendors. Raytheon IIS’s focus and core competency is the control segment. Our company does not have a satellite-manufacturing group, unlike other companies that typically only produce control segments to support their own vehicles. We have supported all of the satellite contractors currently involved in the GPS III spacecraft competition.
We don’t have a preference as to the satellite manufacturer. The control segment has to work with any satellite vendor’s product going forward. It’s that ability to be independent that is a key attribute.
Hartley
What issues exist with the U.S.AF.’s current GPS technology and how will GPS III seek to combat these problems?
Robert
Since 1983, the U.S.A.F. has continually provided GPS signals worldwide, without interruptions. The number of government, civil and commercial GPS users has increased exponentially. This growth drives system enhancements for improved position, navigation and timing services to the warfighter and civilians by improving accuracy, integrity and resistance to jamming.
Our adversaries realize we have an advantage when it comes to GPS enabled precision operations and being able to jam GPS can have a significant impact. Implementing GPS capabilities to be more resistant to jamming is of critical importance. This is a need for the warfighter as well as for civil and commercial users. Many commercial and civil systems such as communications, energy and banking depend on GPS. To the maximum extent possible, the GPS system will need to be impervious to jamming. Implementation will require contributions from all segments of GPS.
From the control segment standpoint, better situational awareness for system operators is an important attribute. Situational awareness of system health, status and performance offers a view of the actual performance of the GPS system and a predictive tool of future performance. This includes an understanding of the jamming environment and how to respond. This capability can be enhanced independent of satellite delivery.
Hartley
Who are Raytheon’s strategic partners in this endeavor?
Robert
Our teammates on the program include The Boeing Company, ITT Industries, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Braxton Technologies Inc. and Infinity Systems Engineering. Our team brings an optimal balance of GPS-unique domain expertise with control segment development expertise.
Hartley
As this is a military sponsored contract, what civilian applications, if any, will the GPS III have?
Robert
GPS has always been a dual use service for military, civil and commercial applications. The commercial GPS market is estimated to be approximately $20 billion per year with a 20 to 25 percent compounded annual growth rate. Some estimate the GPS market can be over US$300B a year by 2020. This market is composed of hardware, software and services such as GPS receivers for automotive and recreation navigation.
The GPS IIR-M satellites started operations in December 2005. These satellites introduce a second civil signal (L2C). L2C signal is stronger, allowing receivers to work better in urban areas, and improves civil accuracy 3-10 meters by compensating for ionospheric distortion. The GPS IIF satellites add a third civil signal (L5) to support the strict requirements for airline and other transportation services. GPS III adds a forth-civil signal (L1C) to augment the original civil signal (L1) that will be common with Galileo.
The first delivery of the GPS OCX control segment takes full advantage of the modernized capabilities on the launched IIR-Ms and the future IIF satellites by activating the new civil signals (L2C and L5) plus the new, improved, military M code. The current control segment does not provide this capability. These enhanced capabilities are independent of the GPS III satellite schedule. Improved M code capability does require MUE delivery.
The USAF invests approximately $1 billion a year in GPS. It is the only program that I am aware of that provides this kind of return on investment.
Hartley
As ITT was recently awarded the contract from the FAA for the new GPS aircraft technology, how will this affect Raytheon’s implementation?
Robert
I believe the aircraft will receive the GPS signal and broadcast its location to the FAA as well as other aircraft in its proximity. The location information received will be displayed enabling the FAA and pilots to determine where all other planes are located. That system is dependant on GPS integrity either through GPS or WAAS.
Hartley
And finally, Mr. Canty, has redundancy been a significant issue and how will it be addressed with GPS OCX?
Robert
GPS OCX delivers a primary and backup control system. The primary and backup systems are each fully redundant. Redundancy is a critical requirement for the implementation of integrity. Our implementation uses approaches and designs from our successful implementation of WAAS.
Hartley
We appreciate you taking the time to answer our many questions — thank you.
Mr. Canty joined the former Hughes Space and Communications Company in February of 1984. Prior to assuming his present position as the Director of DoD Systems of Space Systems for the Intelligence and Information Systems portion of Raytheon Company, he was the Raytheon Six Sigma Champion and Expert for Space Systems in the Strategic System business unit of Raytheon.
Mr. Canty has held several, high-level management positions… early in his career at Hughes Space and Communications, he successfully managed complex space systems integration, test and launch activity as Operations Manager and Test Director. He has managed the analysis group for Hughes New Venture Organization, successfully led the 350-person product line at Hughes through 2 years of 140 percent annual growth, and he won the Future Imaging Architecture Mission Control System (FIA MCS) program as the Capture Manager.
