Another delay has been made in the launch of the Air Force Research Lab navigation satellite.
Washington, D.C. The launch of an experimental navigation satellite by the Air Force Research Laboratory has been postponed because United Launch Alliance's Vulcan Centaur rocket's debut has been moved up until next spring.
At the end of this year, Navigation Technology Satellite-3 was scheduled to be launched by Vulcan as part of USSF-106, the aircraft's maiden mission for national security. As the company executes a fix for a testing bug discovered in March, the milestone won't really be met until far into next year, according to Denver-based ULA.
According to program manager Arlen Biersgreen, the lab is looking at ways to mitigate the impacts of the delay, which will force the NTS-3 launch to be postponed until May or June of 2024.
He said in an email that "AFRL has started considering options for experimentation and test activities that may be able to be conducted in the additional time prior to the launch" as a way to reduce risk for the on-orbit demonstration.
ULA sought the date modification late last month, according to Biersgreen.
NTS-3 was supposed to launch in 2022, however USSF-106 mission delays forced that date back to 2023. The satellite is making good progress through its integration and testing phases as it waits for its launch into orbit, according to Biersgreen.
The L3Harris-built spacecraft is the first significant positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) demonstration by the AFRL in almost 50 years. The final NTS satellite launched in 1977 and displayed features that later proved crucial to the GPS program.
NTS-3 is released at a time when anxiety about the vulnerability of GPS satellites—which provide timing and navigational signals to military users and other crucial U.S. infrastructure—is rising.
The project is intended to establish a more regular rhythm for these kinds of demonstrations, according to AFRL. The spacecraft will test navigational capabilities that may complement or supplement a future mission or the Space Force's GPS satellites. This includes innovations like as steerable beams for local coverage, a reprogrammable payload that can receive updates in orbit, and signal jamming defenses.
After NTS-3 is in orbit, AFRL will evaluate the PNT capabilities of the Space Force over the course of a year to see how various satellite configurations may enhance them.
This study will support Space Systems Command's ongoing examination into whether a mix of small and large satellites in various orbits can provide a more reliable capability for military and civilian users. Space Systems Command is the service's procurement division.
The Army's PNT Assessment Exercise in August of last year was the most recent military exercise in which the satellite participated.