Boeing GPS satellite to launch this month

The first of 12 new global positioning system satellites made by Boeing Co. is on track to launch May 20 after a nearly 42-month delay, according to Air Force officials and congressional investigators.

The program has overcome technical problems with its gyroscopes, management organization issues, late deliveries of parts and changing military requirements that boosted the cost to $1.7 billion from $700 million, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Boeing's award fee, or bonus, on the program increased to 87 percent of available funds last year from zero in 2006 as its performance improved, according to Air Force figures.

"We had some growing pains, but the industry team has overcome every obstacle that's been thrown its way," Air Force Colonel Dave Madden, commander of the Air Force's GPS Wing, told reporters today in a conference call.

The satellite, known as GPS IIF, is intended to provide greater navigational accuracy for military commanders and civilian users and a more jam-resistant signal.

Cristina Chaplain, the GAO official who studied the program, said she believes the satellite is "on a good track to be launched."

Although there were some "technical issues, the Air Force and Boeing were actively addressing them," Chaplain said in an e-mailed statement.

The program's cost grew to $1.7 billion in large part because the service added "significant new capabilities to the original design," the Air Force said in the statement.

Boeing's contract calls for a $3.3 million penalty for any satellite that fails within its first year of orbit. The company may also have to pay as much as $60 million if the 12-satellite fleet doesn't reach its minimum required life of 9.9 years, the Air Force statement said.

Boeing, based in Chicago, didn't have an immediate comment.