One of the long-standing issues for support of IIA vehicles after the future GPS Operational Ground Control Segment’s (OCX’s) ready-to-operate (RTO) date, which should fall in December 2016 at the latest, is what ground command-and-control (C2) system will steer GPS IIA satellites, do navigation uploads, and so on. The issue is that AEP, the current C2 system, will no longer be available once the transition to OCX takes place, and OCX has no requirement to control IIA satellites.

The OCX program, which struggled early, is now under new Program leadership within Raytheon Space Systems, and while Ray Kolibaba, the new OCX program manager, is making great progress, OCX does not need to be burdened with additional requirements at this stage of the program.

Just how big an issue is GPS IIA C2? Initially the Aerospace projections were that there would only be one or two GPS IIAs left on orbit in 2017, and it was not worth the costs to include the C2 software for the legacy system in the new software code. However, I have long maintained that Aerospace and Space Missile Systems Command (SMC) neglected to count the residual satellites, maintained by Launch, Anomaly, and Disposal Operations (LADO), which might very well actually amount to 3–4 additional IIAs. Added to the two IIAs on orbit, this could amount to six IIA SVs that need to be maintained.

The solution announced during the National Space Symposium (NSS, April 16–19) by General William Shelton, the four-star chief of Air Force Space Command, is to fund the current LADO operator, Braxton Technologies, to build in this support for the IIAs. This is significant for several reasons: One of course is that it solves the IIA C2 issues, it does it now, and at a relatively modest cost, and it utilizes more of the capabilities of the Braxton Technologies’ LADO software. Additionally it provides a true backup capability for assets on orbit that become increasingly valuable as the number of available launch slots for GPS decreases.

Braxton Technologies initially demonstrated this capability years ago in a lifeboat drill during the transition to AEP, but the navigation upload capability was never maintained for LADO after the successful transition. This is certainly a step in the right direction and provides a simple solution to a vexing problem that has plagued the GPS program for the last several years.

On Wednesday, the annual Arts, Business and Education Luncheon celebrated Colorado Springs-area business leaders who foster the arts.

This year's event was opened by Charlie Baughman, senior site manager for Progressive insurance. His message: Art may need business, but business also needs art.

The O’Neil Group Company CEO and Braxton Technologies President, Kevin O’Neil, took home two awards: first, for his success in establishing the Colorado Springs Conservatory’s new home and, second, for helping rejuvenate the downtown area through the Greater Colorado Springs Chamber of Commerce, Economic Development Corporation, and Pikes Peak or Bust Rodeo.

The U.S. should not abandon space flight and exploration, Raytheon CEO Bill Swanson said Tuesday at the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs as he urged business and political leaders to inspire students to pursue careers in science, engineering, math and technology.

“We are at a crossroads in space, especially in the United States. We face challenges in this political, financial and budget environment and some question the value of space exploration, but that can’t be the legacy of JFK’s challenge,” Swanson told more than 1,000 business, military and government leaders attending the symposium at The Broadmoor International Center, referring to a 1961 speech that President John F. Kennedy made to a joint session of Congress committing the nation to putting a man on the moon.

“Fifty years later, do we want to do the unthinkable and leave space and opportunities to understand our world and ourselves and the innovations and new technologies that make life easier?” Swanson asked. “We as a nation need to recommit federal dollars to space programs, including human exploration.”

CSC, Braxton Technologies, and our GPS Control Segment (GCS) partners are hosting a second job fair for those interested in being considered for the upcoming GCS contract.

Started by Braxton Technologies employee, Brad Mears, the annual Tee Up for Life Colorado Springs golf tournament raises money to support the American Cancer Society in the fight against cancer.

This year's Tee Up for Life Colorado Springs golf tournament is scheduled for August 4th, 2012 at the Antler Creek Golf Course. Braxton Technologies is once again pleased to serve as the event sponsor for this great event. Whether you are an avid golfer or you just want to help raise money to support cancer research and patient support, please join Braxton Technologies and other sponsors as we Tee Up for Life.

CSC, Braxton Technologies, and our GPS Control Segment (GCS) partners are hosting a job fair for those interested in being considered for the upcoming GPS Control Segment contract.

Satellite imagery is exciting because of the tremendous amount of untapped opportunity that exists today and will remain until we can see every inch of the globe. There are so many more ways to provide transparency and to better characterize activity on our planet. Skybox Imaging, a Silicon Valley startup, gets to handle tremendous quantities of data and extract interesting patterns from that information in order to derive insight about our planet and ultimately impact humanity.

Timely satellite imagery should be able to inform daily lives and decision-making cycles of consumers, businesses and governments across our planet. While GPS has the ability to determine an object’s location at any time, satellite imagery holds the promise to reveal the context of any place on Earth at any time.

For example, Skybox Imaging envisions the most up-to-date mapping product that can allow people to determine the number of cars in parking lots and at retail locations. Business owners can monitor their worldwide facilities, understand the environmental impact of those facilities and oversee their security. Government agencies can use our product to view images alongside borders, helping them better understand conflict.

On a broader scale, Skybox is driving the demand in other areas of the satellite industry, which will hopefully mean more affordable launches and better business opportunities for us all.

December is typically the month when writers of regularly featured columns wax nostalgic and engage in a certain amount of prognostication. This year I enlisted the help of Lt. Col. Jennifer Grant, the 2SOPS/CC at Schriever AFB, the home of GPS, to help us with our year-end review and crystal-ball gazing as we look ahead to the GPS horizon. Lt. Col. Grant reminisces about her first 16 months as 2SOPS/CC, reviews numerous major accomplishments, and updates us on the status of the GPS constellation as well as the often overlooked, ever contentious and always seemingly in flux critical Command and Control (C2) segment.

By way of introduction, I first met Lt. Col. Grant when she was assigned to the Command Suite at Headquarters Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and served under the four-star commander General Robert Kehler, who is now the commander of USSTRATCOM (United States Strategic Command). At the time she impressed me as being intelligent and insightful. Her professional reputation as a perfectionist certainly supported that assessment. The next time I met Jennifer, we were both wearing different hats and serving in different roles.

Several of us on the GPS Independent Review Team (GPS-IRT) were sent by General Kehler to Schriever AFB to check in with the new 2SOPS/CC and see if we could offer her any assistance. This is a role we, the IRT, have played many times in the past, and just like the old saw concerning Inspector General (IG) visits, our mantra was and is “…we are only here to help…that’s our story and we are sticking to it.” Regardless of the perception or even trepidation over our visit, Jennifer and her staff were extremely supportive and it was abundantly clear that Lt. Col. Grant was drinking from a fire hose and doing more than surviving. She actually seemed to be handling it well and possibly even enjoying herself. While she was not new to Space Command, she was new to the GPS.

More than a year later, I and another IRT member paid Lt. Col. Grant another official visit and the transformation was nothing short of amazing. Did I fail to mention that she is also known as a quick study? In 16 months' time Jennifer went from the new kid on the block in GPS operations to a sophisticated, erudite, extremely knowledgeable and passionate advocate and supporter of the GPS and all aspects of 2SOPS operations.

The Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) team developing the U.S. Air Force's next generation Global Positioning System has delivered the program's pathfinder spacecraft to the company's Denver -area facility. The pathfinder, known as the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST), will now undergo final assembly, integration and test activities in a new facility designed to maximize efficiencies and reduce costs of satellite production.

The GPS III program will affordably replace aging GPS satellites while improving capability to meet the evolving needs of military, commercial and civilian users worldwide. GPS III satellites will deliver better accuracy and improved anti-jamming power while enhancing the spacecraft's design life and adding a new civil signal designed to be interoperable with international global navigation satellite systems.

The GNST is a full-sized, flight equivalent prototype of a GPS III satellite used to identify and solve development issues prior to integration and test of the first space vehicle. The approach significantly reduces risk, improves production predictability, increases mission assurance and lowers overall program costs. Now in Denver , the GNST will be mated with its core structure, navigation payload and antenna elements before completing pathfinding activities and checkout of environmental test facilities. The GNST will then be shipped to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., for pathfinding activities at the launch site.

"The on schedule delivery of the GPS III pathfinder is a key indicator that this program is on firm footing and poised to deliver on its commitments," said LtCol Don Frew , the U.S. Air Force's GPS III program manager. "In this challenging budget environment, we are committed to delivering the critical GPS III capabilities to users affordably and on schedule."

Nine businesses, local governments and civic groups were honored Wednesday at the Colorado Springs Regional Economic Development Corp.’s sixth annual Excellence in Local Industry Awards.

The event recognizes contributions to the community by employers, innovators and entrepreneurs, and their supporters. The recognition took place during a reception at The Broadmoor hotel in Colorado Springs.

The winner of the Security and Defense Technology Company of the Year Award, which recognizes a Pikes Peak region company that develops products to support the military, homeland defense or space industries, was Braxton Technologies. Braxton owns a line of ground-system products that are used to operate satellites and provide engineering and support services. The company also provides technical support to Air Force satellite programs, among other programs and services.

BEVERLY HILLS, CA, 26 October 2011. Braxton CEO, Frank Backes, and Senior Technical Advisor, Dr. Triet Tran, presented an introduction to Braxton's ACE Premier(TM) product line and an overview of Braxton's newest mission planning tools at the Boeing Satellite Systems Owner Operator Conference. Mr. Backes and Dr. Tran then joined conference participants for ground system product demonstrations at the Braxton conference booth.

For the second year in a row, Braxton Technologies has made the Inc5000 list of fastest-growing private companies.

To make the list, companies had to be founded and generating revenue by March 31, 2007, based in the United States and be privately held, for-profit and independent — not units of other companies — as of Dec. 31, 2010. The minimum 2010 revenue requirement for the list was $2 million.

Colorado Springs-area companies on the Inc5000 list are:

• The WireNut, a Colorado Springs-based electrical repair and installation contractor with 26 employees that reported revenue growth of 320 percent between 2007 and 2010 to $3 million; ranked 953rd.

• Chromatic Technologies, a Colorado Springs-based manufacturer of temperature-sensitive and other specialty inks with 33 employees that reported revenue growth of 230 percent between 2007 and 2010, to $8.2 million; ranked 1,263rd.

• Maxx Sunglasses, a Monument-based wholesaler and online retailer of high-definition sunglasses with 39 employees that nearly tripled sales between 2007 and 2010 to $3.7 million; ranked 1,434th.

• Intelligent Software Solutions, a Colorado Springs-based software developer with 528 employees that had revenue growth of 180% between 2007 and 2010, to $122 million; ranked 1,536th.

• Advisors Asset Management, a Monument-based provider of services and products to financial advisers and investment brokers with 335 employees that more than doubled revenue between 2007 and 2010 to $102.9 million; ranked 2,277th.

• Infinity Systems Engineering, a Colorado Springs-based provider of advisory, engineering, intelligence and information technology services for satellite systems that employs 77 and reported revenue growth of 63 percent between 2007 and 2010 to $13.7 million; ranked 3,128th.

• Delta Solutions & Strategies, a Colorado Springs-based provider of technical and management consulting to military and government customers that employs 78 and reported revenue growth of 62 percent between 2007 and 2010 to $14.3 million; ranked 3,171st.

• Braxton Technologies, a Colorado Springs-based software developer for space communications and satellite systems that employs 80 and reported revenue growth of 57 percent between 2007 and 2010 to $14.1 million; ranked 3,300th.

The nation's newest Global Positioning System satellite has completed its post-launch checkout and entered service in the orbiting constellation. The Air Force's GPS 2F-2 spacecraft was boosted into orbit July 16 from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Delta 4 rocket.

Controllers have spent the past month getting the Boeing-built satellite prepped to transmit precision navigation and timing information to users across the planet.

"This next-generation GPS 2F satellite has been set healthy and is ready to begin providing a strong, clear and secure signal," said Air Force Col. Bernard Gruber, director of the GPS Directorate. "The Air Force and allied military forces around the world use GPS devices in virtually every system to improve their capabilities and effectiveness while reducing risk to the warfighter."

Four years ago, Colorado Springs business people and civic leaders finalized Imagine Downtown, an ambitious plan touting more retail, housing, employers and attractions for the area.

Today, supporters say the economy has made it tough for downtown to become the round-the-clock, live-work-play environment they’ve visualized, but strides have been made.

Meanwhile, a partnership that includes the majority owners of Braxton Technologies of Colorado Springs bought the Chase One building, across the street from 7-Eleven at Pikes Peak and Tejon, in June, and Braxton plans to move its 80 employees there by year’s end, said company president Kevin O’Neil. Braxton will take the building’s second floor and basement, and is looking to attract other businesses to the building, where the Vladmir Jones advertising and public relations agency is among the tenants.

The GPS 2A-22 spacecraft had been removed from active duty two years ago to accommodate the deployment of a fresh bird into the constellation. Now, the Boeing-built satellite is back in action to transmit the timing and location signals to users around the world.

"We keep on-orbit spares for exactly this purpose," said Lt. Col. Jennifer Grant, 2 SOPS commander. "The robustness of our current constellation and the recent completion of the Expandable 24 architecture provide us with the flexibility to perform replacements like this with minimal impact to global users. Expandable 24 increases global GPS coverage by optimizing the location of GPS satellites in space."

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Braxton Technologies, LLC today announced achievement of their Capability Maturity Model Integration (CMMI) Level 2 rating. CMMI is a framework for business process improvement that a company may apply to its standards, processes and procedures to implement practices that have proven successful worldwide. The CMMI process is gradual, and companies achieve level ratings as they institutionalize their processes.
Braxton COO, Ken O’Neil, is justifiably proud. “This is Braxton’s first step of several to come in the area of process improvement that allows us to compete and team with larger contractors as an equal partner, not just an average small business,” Ken explains. “The entire Braxton organization remains focused on, and excited about, maintaining effective processes and continuously improving on them.

The major budget cuts underway at the Defense Department and on the table in the debt ceiling deal are likely to get a strong push from at least one newly promoted DOD official: President Barack Obama has nominated Ashton Carter, under secretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, as deputy secretary of defense.

Carter has taken a leading role in DOD efforts to streamline spending and implement widespread efficiencies tthat include his 23-point Better Buying Power program, part of broader DOD efficiency efforts established by then-Defense Secretary Robert Gates.

The next-generation GPS Ground Control system (OCX) under the direction of prime contractor Raytheon did not pass the recently concluded initial Preliminary Design Review (PDR).

Not passing this critical PDR inspection so early in the OCX process and in the current fiscal environment (Congress has already trimmed the modernization budget and shifted elements to the right) constitutes a blow to the GPS modernization effort. It adds to the worry concerning the OCX-GPSIIIA gap, having to do with the ability to launch the Lockheed-produced GPS IIIA SVs and payloads that are currently scheduled to be ready for launch a full 14-16 months before the OCX ground system was originally scheduled to be able to control the launch.

That timeline undoubtedly stretches to the right with this latest development.

Continuing a prolific partnership that has benefited billions of users around the world, the Delta rocket family today successfully launched its 50th satellite for the Global Positioning System.

The powerful Delta 4 booster blasted away from Cape Canaveral's Complex 37 at 2:41 a.m. EDT (0641 GMT) for a middle-of-the-night ascent precisely timed to deliver a critical replacement satellite directly into the GPS constellation.

Known as the GPS 2F-2 satellite, this newest bird will take the place of the GPS 2A-11 spacecraft that just celebrated its 20th birthday in orbit, exceeding the the wildest expectations for longevity.

A partnership that includes the majority owners of Braxton Technologies has acquired the former Chase Bank building in downtown Colorado Springs and plans to move the defense software company there in October to adopt a higher profile locally.

Six North Holdings, which includes Braxton majority owner The O’Neil Group Co. and other local investors, paid $5.8 million last month to acquire Bank of America’s position in the property. “This building fits our needs. We believe moving downtown will help both Braxton and the community,” said Kevin O’Neil, president of both Braxton and The O’Neil Group Co.