The Next Generation of Satellite is Upon Us

It’s May Fourth… and that means it’s the day your geek friends annoy you all day with a bad Star Wars pun: “May the Fourth be with you.”

It’s therefore a day for us to think about space.

But we’re not going to think about a galaxy far, far away.

We’re thinking about the thermosphere around the Earth… that area just between near space and outer space that’s dotted with man-made vehicles and machines meant to observe the world and surrounding space.

It’s the space that matters most to us because it affects us every single day.

For example, nobody learns directions anymore. Thanks to the geospatial positioning satellites orbiting the Earth and the navigation systems built into our cars and smartphones, we don’t need to. We just punch in where we want to be, and they tell us which direction to go.

This major shift in behavior has really only taken place over the last 15 years.

Before that, only the military had access to GPS coordinates, and the first satellites launched nearly 40 years ago. Some of the second-generation GPS satellites launched in the early 1990s are still in orbit today. While the cultural impact of GPS is relatively new, it’s a technology that is at the tail end of a generation.

Right now, we’re at the very beginnings of the third generation of GPS satellites. Aerospace company Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) today announced a major milestone in the progress of GPS III: the marriage of satellite to propulsion core.

GPS III

Lockheed Martin is working on replacing the aging global positioning satellites with newer, more responsive technology. It promises signals that are three times more accurate with an eight-fold improvement in anti-jamming capabilities.

This new generation is designed with a life span nearly 25% longer than previous generations.

It also will be the first GPS satellite to use a civilian L1C signal. This will be the third location data stream available to civilians and will be compatible with international global navigation satellite systems.

Lockheed Martin won the contract to design the first two GPS III space vehicles back in 2008, and it has an option to produce up to 10 additional satellites.

So far, it has won contracts for four further spacecraft.

Systems Integration

Today’s announcement is that the first GPS III satellite has been integrated into its drive system, effectively making a complete space vehicle ready for lab testing.

The next step is a series of Thermal Vacuum tests, in which the satellite system is subjected to a simulated space environment where the harsh effects of the space vacuum will be tested to validate the design of this satellite.

If it’s a success, this manufacturing process will be used for all the other vehicles Lockheed Martin is contracted to produce.

It’s a major milestone for Lockheed Martin, but it’s also a waypoint for investors. We are just about one year away from a sophisticated upgrade to our navigation capabilities that won’t necessarily create a big demand for new GPS receivers from the likes of Broadcom (NASDAQ: BRCM) and Qualcomm (NASDAQ: QCOM).

The interesting part about this upgrade is that L1C is designed to be backward compatible with the original L1 C/A signal, so end users will experience an increase in functionality without any hardware changes. This type of functionality upgrade usually has a halo effect for software and services whose offerings are based upon location.

With increased robustness and flexibility, location-based services are going to receive a boost in their capabilities, and it will coincide with the growth in wearable technology.

These are major movements. Follow them.

Good Investing,

Tim Conneally

 @TimConneally on Twitter

For the last seven years, Tim Conneally has covered the world of mobile and wireless technology, enterprise software, network hardware, and next generation consumer technology. Tim has previously written for long-running software news outlet Betanews and for financial media powerhouse Forbes.