Date posted: 02/25/2010*

The U.S. Air Force chose Raytheon to develop a new element of the Global Positioning System (GPS), called the Advanced Control Segment (OCX), which will improve the accuracy of information from GPS satellites.

The U.S. Air Force selected Raytheon for a contract of $886 million to develop a new element of the Global Positioning System (GPS), called the Advanced Control Segment (OCX), to improve the accuracy of information from GPS satellites.

The new segment will include anti-jam capabilities and improved security, accuracy, and reliability. It will be based on a modern service-oriented architecture to integrate government and industry open-system standards.

“We are excited to partner with the Air Force to provide the best value solution GPS control system for the future,” said Lynn Dugle, president of Raytheon’s Intelligence and Information Systems business. “Raytheon’s broad experience in delivering satellite ground command and control systems will ensure that our nation’s military and civil GPS users worldwide are provided new capabilities.”

The GPS, a satellite-based radio navigation system for the military and the public, consists of three major segments: the user segment, the space segment, and the control segment, which includes a master control station and ground antennas.

Bob Canty, GPS OCX vice president and program manager for Raytheon, said the OCX concept was created because it was important to separate the control and space segments. “The reasons for splitting the control segment from space are very similar to why most companies separated information technology (IT) as its own function,” he said. “Technologies were evolving so rapidly and were so critical to execution that specialized skills were needed. The GPS Wing saw the same need for specialized expertise on GPS OCX.”

Raytheon brings more than four decades of high-availability precision satellite command and control systems experience to GPS OCX. Raytheon teammates include The Boeing Company, ITT, Braxton Technologies, Infinity Systems Engineering and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.