LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, El Segundo, Calif. --- Officials from Air Force Space Command's Space and Missile Systems Center announce the completion of the Next Generation Operational Control System Preliminary Design Review.

A PDR review, conducted June 21-24 at Raytheon's Intelligence and Information Systems facilities in Aurora, Colo., confirmed the architecture and design of the OCX was solid. The PDR was held open pending closure of identified issues and further retirement of risk. The PDR was officially completed, as planned, Aug. 29, and confirmed that the OCX program is ready for the next phase of the contract.

The OCX was designed to replace the current GPS Operational Control System. It will maintain backwards compatibility with the on-orbit constellation providing command and control of the new GPS IIF and GPS III families of satellites, as well as enabling new modernized signal capabilities. The OCX program is built on a back-to-basics foundation, which emphasizes stable requirements, stable funding and rigorous systems engineering.

Furthermore, a primary tenet of back-to-basics is to wring out issues up front and early, thus avoiding costs and delays that often occur in programs later on.

Additionally, OCX offers a flexible architecture that can rapidly adapt to the changing needs of today's and future GPS users allowing them immediate access to GPS data and constellation status through secure, accurate and reliable information to effectively support military, commercial and civil users.

GPS continues to improve military and civil navigation capabilities to ensure GPS remains the "Gold Standard" for positioning, navigation and timing service around the globe. The Air Force continues to meet and exceed its operational requirements with GPS and to maintain its commitment to sustain the constellation, and to develop and field new modernized GPS capabilities for the warfighter and civil users worldwide.