Raytheon Lands $886 Million GPS Contract

Raytheon has won an $886 million contract to develop a new segment of the Global Positioning System aimed at improving the accuracy of information coming from GPS satellites.

The contract -- awarded by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base -- covers initial development of what is called the advanced control segment, or OCX, which will include new capabilities that affect GPS control.

The satellite-controlled GPS has three major segments: user, space and control. The control segment includes a master control station and ground antennas. The OCX is meant to separate the control and space segments, according to Raytheon.

Specifically, the OCX will prevent information jamming and improve the security, reliability and accuracy of the GPS. It also will make it easier for the operations team to run both current and future GPS satellites.

OCX will be based on a service-oriented architecture and use both government and industry-accepted open standards, according to Raytheon.

Other companies that will be part of the project include Boeing, Braxton Technologies, Infinity Systems Engineering, and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.