No, this is not the electronic Âversion of Candy Land. It’s the latest Âelement in the U.S. Global Positioning System, deployed on 2 January. Built by Lockheed Martin for the U.S. Air Force, the satellite Âpayload has enhanced Âsignal power and two Âmilitary and two Âcivilian signals. Ideally, it can Âpinpoint Âlocations down to less than 1 meter. The tall candy-cane antennas handle UHF links to the ground; the squat Popsicle antennas, Âsatellite-to-satelÂlite UHF connections. The antenna cones are for the L band, a Âportion of the Âspectrum reserved mainly for military telemetry and geopositioning communications.
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