SVN48 Set to Usable in Record Time

March 25, 2008

The U.S. Air Force set the latest GPS satellite, SVN48 (PRN07), to usable on Monday, March 24, less than 10 days after it lifted off from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on March 17.

That is apparently a record timeframe for a satellite being set to usable after launch. The previous satellite launched, SVN57, which went into orbit December 20, 2007, and was set to usable January 2 — a matter of 13 days — was also one of the fastest turn-ons. After the successful launch of SVN48, the Air Force originally said that it anticipated it would set the satellite to usable sometime next month.

SVN48 is the sixth modernized Block IIR-M satellite in the GPS constellation. It joins five other IIR-M and 12 IIR satellites in the GPS satellite constellation. The IIR-M satellites are modernized — hence the M designation — with an upgraded antenna panel that provides increased signal power to both military and civilian receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal.

With SVN48 being set to usable, there are now 31 usable satellites in the constellation's current broadcast almanac.

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