President’s FY09 Budget Proposes $1.2 Billion for GPS Program

The White House

President Bush’s Fiscal Year 2009 (FY09) budget released earlier this month proposes an allocation of nearly $1.2 billion dollars for GPS operations, according to the Space and Missile Systems Center's GPS Wing at Los Angeles Air Force Base, California.

If approved, the budget would support continued development of the GPS III satellite program with a first launch in FY14. The somewhat delayed target date appears to match the prediction of the GPS Wing that the first GPS III launch would be set back a few months as a result of Congressional cuts in the FY08 GPS budget.

The FY09 President’s budget for GPS proposes the following allocations:
• $310.2 million, space and control segments, to continue GPS IIF development and production and GPS Operational Control segment (OCS) upgrade
• $155.5 million, military user equipment, to continue multi-vendor development of modernized user equipment MUE
• $307.3 million, OCX modernization of the OCS to handle more satellites and upgraded functionality, to continue Phase A development with Phase B downselect about mid-fiscal year
• $420.3 million, GPS III, to continue development of next-generation GPS spacecraft with scheduled delivery of the first GPS IIIA space vehicle for launch in FY14.

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