Where Are We? - GPS Declassified: From Smart Bombs to Smartphones - page 177

Not to be outdone, Iran announced plans in May 2012 to develop Nasir 1,
described as a “domestically designed and manufactured satellite navigation
system.” 248 The director of Iran's space agency said Iran was among a handful
of nations capable of developing satellite technology but provided no details on
the number of satellites, system design, or launch dates beyond hopes for “the
near future.” Curiously, the second sentence of the widely circulated report by
the Mehr News Agency stated, “The satellite navigation system has been
designed to find the precise locations of satellites moving in orbit.” It is unclear
whether this is a translation issue, incomplete reporting, or veiled bravado. Iran
two weeks earlier had scheduled the launch of its Fajr (Dawn) reconnaissance
satellite to coincide with the start of nuclear negotiations with six major pow-
ers. 249 That day passed without a launch, and Iran announced a one-year post-
ponement the day before the unveiling of its satellite navigation aspirations. 250
U.S. leaders can draw many lessons from what other nations or groups of
nations are doing with gnss. Here are three: First, delays caused by technical
and financial challenges are common. Second, the United States cannot be
complacent about upgrading gps, because other gnss developers are numer-
ous, determined, and capable. Third, the United States must compete and
cooperate simultaneously—practicing “co-opetition”—and the best place to
do that is from the lead. 251 Thus, government officials frequently discuss main-
taining gps as the global “gold standard.” 252
At this writing four gps iif satellites are in orbit and the prime contractor,
Boeing, projects delivery of the twelfth and final iif satellite in 2013. 253 The Air
Force plans to launch two iif satellites per year through 2016. 254 T The iif's new
features, such as the l5 signal, which the faa will use for new flight procedures
that accommodate more traffic and save fuel, require a sufficient number of
satellites in orbit. The same situation existed before the original gps constella-
tion was completed, but with forthcoming Galileo satellites offering compatible
l5 signals, there could be as many as thirty combined satellites broadcasting l5
by the end of 2015, rather than by 2019 under the gps schedule alone. 255
For several years, the Air Force insisted that the first gps iii satellite would
launch in April 2014. (The next chapter discusses gps iii features in detail.)
Lockheed Martin officials have said their company is on track to deliver the
first gps iii satellite “flight ready” in 2014. 256 The iif delays that gao criticized
created this significant overlap of launch schedules. Fortunately, the Air Force
has been able to manage the aging constellation in a manner that makes it
unlikely that the number of satellites could fall below twenty-four before 2014.