Sandra Erwin
An experimental U.S. military satellite designed to test new space-based navigation technologies has been waiting nearly 20 months for a ride to geostationary Earth orbit (GEO).
The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 (NTS-3), developed by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, aims to test advanced technologies for future GPS and satellite navigation systems. Its launch, potentially before year’s end, hinges on the certification of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket.
NTS-3 is set to explore next-generation positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) technologies that could help modernize the Global Positioning System. The mission is significant for the U.S. military, as it would provide a rare chance to test PNT capabilities from GEO — a domain where China’s BeiDou system currently has the upper hand.
“We really don’t understand how accurate our signals can be from GEO. We’ve never done it before. So that’s one of the experiments for NTS-3,” said Joseph Rolli, director of business development for PNT at L3Harris Technologies, which manufactured the satellite under an $84 million contract awarded in 2018.
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