Raytheon To Build GEO Payload for FAA System Improving GPS Signal Accuracy for Aircraft

Raytheon received a $103 million Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) contract to supply a space-based system that will make air travel more efficient and safe, Raytheon said Tuesday. The Raytheon system will be part of the FAA's Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS), which improves GPS signal accuracy for use by general and commercial aircraft, it said. WAAS will allow more access to remote landing sites, direct flight routing and precision landing, without dependence on ground-based infrastructure, it said. Raytheon will develop a payload that will be included in a new geostationary (GEO) satellite and ground uplink stations to support the WAAS system in U.S. airspace, it said. The GEO 6 and 5 system, which was awarded to Raytheon in 2012, will replace two WAAS GEO payloads at the end of their service leases, it said. The WAAS GEO 6 payload will be launched in Q2 of 2017, and the system will enter a 10-year operational phase in 2019, Raytheon said.