Operations Contingency Program Nearing Operational Acceptance
The Global Positioning System enterprise reached another major milestone on Oct. 21, when the GPS III Contingency Operations Program (COps) successfully connected with the first GPS III satellite on orbit. The COps system will allow the Air Force to operationally command and control the new, more powerful GPS III satellites as well as legacy GPS satellites currently in the constellation. The first GPS III satellite was launched on Dec. 23, 2018.