L5 Demonstration Event: Don Jewell Reports

April 10, 2009

Military & Government Editor Don Jewell attended today's L5 Demonstration Event and filed the following report:

On Friday, April 10, at 04:58:18 PDT, SRI International personnel utilized the SRI-operated 150-foot diameter radio telescope antenna in the Stanford Hills to monitor a GPS signal on a new civil frequency known as L5. This frequency band is protected for Safety of Life civilian applications and will eventually be transmitted by Boeing IIF next generation GPS payloads.

The goal of the "L5 Demonstration" payload on GPS Mission IIR(M)20, Navstar #63, launched March 24, 2009, is to transmit the L5 signal from space before the August 26, 2009, deadline, in order to secure an International Telecommunication Union (ITU) frequency allocation for the U.S. government.

Future generations of GPS payloads will include L5 signals to improve the accuracy and performance of civilian GPS systems, including aviation applications. A senior Department of Transportation official, Tom Nagle, was on hand when the signal was initiated. A joint team consisting of the USAF GPS Wing, Aerospace Corp., 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Lockheed Martin, Draper Laboratories, MITRE Corp., and SRI-International are currently collecting L5 signal validation data. Major Jerry Gallegos helped organize the event and represented the GPS Wing.

Also present from the GPS Wing was Captain Anil Hariharan, who immediately sent the official ITU notification, at about 0500 hrs, that started the official signal confirmation process that verifies the signal is being broadcast as required by ITU regulations.