Copy
Headlines: Spending Bill Funds Air Force GPS Program in FY 2015; DOT Receives $10M in Civil GPS Funding; Newest GPS Satellite Begins Operational Service
GPS Tracker

Information for Policymakers from the National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing (PNT)

January 6, 2015

Spending Bill Funds Air Force GPS Program in FY 2015

Capitol dome on the $50 bill

On December 16, President Obama signed the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015 (H.R. 83) into law. The measure provides $1.034 billion to the Air Force GPS program, a $21.31 million increase above the President’s request. The appropriators added $30 million in advance procurement but reduced regular procurement by $8.69 million, citing “Excess contract support” in the GPS IIF program and “Launch support and on-orbit check-out ahead of need” for GPS III. Also, on December 19, the President signed the National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 3979), which authorizes full funding for the Air Force GPS program. View details at GPS.gov

DOT Receives $10M in Civil GPS Funding

DOT logo

H.R. 83 allocates $10 million to the Department of Transportation in support of GPS Civil Requirements. This represents a decrease of $17 million from the President’s request. The funds will support GPS civil signal monitoring to provide users confirmation and assurance that the civilian GPS service meets the government's published performance commitments in terms of accuracy, availability, etc. H.R. 83 also provides DOT with $98.6 million for the GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), $5 million below the request. View details at GPS.gov

Newest GPS Satellite Begins Operational Service

Rocket launch

On December 12, the Air Force added the eighth GPS Block IIF satellite to the operational GPS constellation. Launched October 29, it was the fourth GPS satellite deployed in 2014. This launch rate is the highest for the GPS program in 20 years. The Air Force is currently in the process of upgrading the GPS control system to allow daily uploads of civil navigation messages to the new satellite and all others featuring the new L2C and L5 civil signals. Learn about GPS modernization at GPS.gov
National Coordination Office logo
This newsletter is produced and distributed by the National Coordination Office for Space-Based PNT, a central resource within the government for GPS policy information. For more information, visit www.gps.gov/congress.
You are receiving this newsletter because of your interest / involvement in legislative affairs that are pertinent to the Global Positioning System (GPS), which affects national defense, transportation, science & technology, energy & environment, commerce, communications, privacy, and many other aspects of society.

Forward to a colleague >>