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Space Command to update GPS satellites

The Air Force is about to make a major change that it hopes you will not notice.

Space Command is changing how it controls the fleet of up to 30 satellites that broadcast Global Positioning System signals to millions of users, from stealth bombers to the pizza delivery guy.

The Air Force team, along with contractors from Boeing, Lockheed Martin and The Aerospace Corporation, have been preparing for transition to the new control segment since March 2006.

The team has focused on ensuring GPS service will not be interrupted during the changeover in September from the legacy system to the new the new Architecture Evolution Plan.

AEP was developed by the Space and Missile Systems Center’s GPS Wing, under contract with Boeing, to replace the legacy 1970s-era mainframe computer at the 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colo.

The space wing, through the 2nd Space Operations Squadron, performs the satellite command control mission for GPS.

The transition will take place over four to six days and will switch control one satellite at a time, a Space Command news release said. The transition has been successfully rehearsed three times and is completely reversible if any problems are encountered.

“Users of the system should not notice the transition,” the command said.