Jane Edwards
L3Harris Technologies is working on an experimental satellite that could help deliver advanced position, navigation and timing capabilities to warfighters under an $84M contract with the U.S. Air Force, C4ISRNET reported Tuesday.
The Navigation Technology Satellite-3 is expected to launch by 2022 and operate in geostationary orbit as a software-defined satellite. NTS is an Air Force Research Laboratory program designed to bring experimental satellites to orbit to test future GPS technology.
“But what’s unique about NTS 3 is it’s not just a testbed but it actually could be an augmentation for the mainline GPS constellation,“ said Bill Gattle, CEO of L3Harris“™ space systems. “It will have an immediate impact to the warfighter, which is unusual. And that“™s why it“™s called a Vanguard program.“
NTS-3 has already completed preliminary design review and requirements assessment.
