KUSA - Lockheed Martin is celebrating the opening of a new facility in Colorado that will build the next generation of GPS satellites.
"We get some additional signal power, and what that helps with is better reception here on the ground," Keoki Jackson, the program director for the new facility, said. "It also gives us about three to four times better accuracy, above and beyond what we get today."
Lockheed Martin will build up to 32 new GPS III satellites over the next two decades at its facility in Waterton Canyon. GPS satellites deliver navigation and timing information to nearly a billion people every day.
The company has partnered with the U.S. Air Force to invest $80 million in the state-of-the-art satellite manufacturing plant.
"It's a specifically-designed lean manufacturing line that will allow us to deliver these 32 satellites extremely affordably, for both the government and the U.S. taxpayer," Jackson said. "So we'll be able to deliver these satellites on a regular and predictable basis."
The facility is also bringing more jobs to Colorado. Jackson says at the peak of production, around 100 people will build and test the GPS satellites at the factory, but many more will work in other support roles.
"If you look across both Denver and Colorado Springs, there's a whole lot more jobs - probably 1,000 additional jobs between developing the control segment on the ground and operating the GPS III satellites," Jackson said.
To view pictures of the new facility, watch the video above. For more information, visit http://www.lockheedmartin.com/gps.
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