New GPS System Provides Remote
Access to Data, Saves Money

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (2/16/98) -- The GPS program has developed and installed a system for remote access to telemetry data from GPS Block IIR satellites.

Named the Operational Support System (OSS), it monitors satellite performance in real time during launch and onorbit operations from a network of workstations. Its capability to store and retrieve telemetry data assists in resolving anomalies by providing access to historical information.

OSS was developed by Lockheed Martin in accordance with system requirements developed by The Aerospace Corporation. The Aerospace OSS team was headed by Mort Sogaard of the GPS program office and Sunetta Ward of the Software and Telemetry Systems Department.

Center Facility, Workstations

OSS consists of a central data storage facility at Falcon Air Force Base in Colorado Springs and a network of workstations at Falcon, Aerospace, and Lockheed Martin in Valley Forge, Pa. Telemetry data are transferred from Falcon to remote locations at Aerospace and Valley Forge. The data are then distributed to any of six workstations for real-time data monitoring or analyses.

The Aerospace facility was configured for secure operations, integrated within the overall OSS system and tested by the Aerospace OSS team. The facility has been used extensively by Aerospace engineers and Air Force officers to support launch rehearsals, launch, and onorbit operations of the first Block IIR satellite launched last July.

Increased Efficiency, Cost Savings

OSS has resulted in increased efficiency and significant cost savings, allowing mission support teams to remain in Los Angeles rather than travel to Colorado Springs for rehearsals and launch support.

It has been estimated that OSS will save $1.3 million in travel costs over the life of the Block IIR program for the Aerospace launch support team. The Lockheed Martin team is significantly larger and is expected to realize even greater savings for taxpayers.

"The money saved due to reduced travel will certainly be significant and welcome in this era of reduced budgets," said Sogaard, but "the more significant payoff may be in improved access to satellite data for anomaly support."

Dramatic Potential

Sogaard said the ability to provide rapid problem response may be difficult to quantify in terms of cost savings but is dramatic in its potential to save a satellite. Rapid access to historical data is invaluable in solving anomalies and was not available to GPS before the development of OSS.

The value of the OSS facility was demonstrated after the first successful launch of a GPS Block IIR spacecraft. An unexpected series of events occurred during the first thrusting maneuver designed to place the satellite into its final onorbit location. The thrusting maneuver was automatically aborted, and satellite control was momentarily lost.

Aerospace subsystem engineers Rita Meistrell and Joe Anselmi used OSS playback and trending data to determine the root of the problem. Their proposed solution was validated at the Aerospace GPS Real-Time Simulation Center, coordinated with Lockheed Martin, and implemented by the Air Force 1st Space Operations Squadron at Falcon. Had the OSS facility not been available, resolution would have taken significantly longer, further delaying a critical satellite maneuver.

OSS represents a significant advancement in data storage and display systems when compared with previous telemetry logging systems. The OSS contribution to the GPS program was recently acknowledged by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, which presented its 1997 Space Systems Award to Lockheed Martin.