Air Force to update satellite control

The Air Force is moving control of its navigation satellites to a new computer system at Schriever Air Force Base next month.

They expect no one to notice.

If things go seriously haywire, however, consequences could vary from bombs missing their targets in Iraq to the world financial markets collapsing into chaos.

That’s why senior Air Force officials are saying that failure is not an option as the GPS ground control system is switched from a room-sized mainframe computer to a stateof-the-art network.

There’s a big safety net in place, and the worst-case scenario is extremely unlikely, but the big shift won’t be easy.

“It’s like changing the engine on a car while it heads down the freeway at 65 mph,” said Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, who commands the Space and Missile System Center in Los Angeles, which oversaw development of the new computers.

Computers on the ground control how the 30 navigation satellites fly and the signals they beam to Earth.

Those signals can be used to precisely determine a location and are also used by the banking and financial industries as the world’s most accurate and available clock.

If the signals go away during the computer switch, which will take several days to complete, navigation is out and banks lose track of when money is deposited and withdrawn.

That’s not going to happen, said Hamel, whose airmen at Schriever have drilled for 18 months in preparation for the shift.

“One of the things I can tell you is we are applying the same kind of assurance on this as we do with our launch systems,” he said. “We have been meticulous about our planning.”

Airmen at Schriever have been through three dress rehearsals and will have a fourth before the move is made.

The actual timing of the shift is secret because commanders worry that enemies might try to throw a wrench into their plans.

Lt. Col. Kurt Kuntzelman, who commands the 2nd Space Operations Squadron at Schriever, said his airmen are excited to start using the new computer system.

While most people might envision a futuristic computer display for satellite control, the current system looks like something only an accountant could love.

“Its alpha numeric characters in rows and columns,” he said.

The new system, which works off modern desktop computers and file servers, looks more like a video game, with cockpit-style displays to give the Air Force a quick assessment of what’s going on in space.

The change will allow the Air Force to bring new satellites on line and will make the precision signals that guide bombs even more accurate, Kuntzelman said.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com