this one, smaller than a toaster. what can a single cube sat do? a variety of missions. could it take pictures? absolutely. most of it is research and development right now, trying to find out how can we really use this miniaturized technology. some of them even have some propulsion onboard. the idea is simple. spread america s space needs from the hundreds of satellites deployed today to thousands or more. too many targets for u.s. adversaries to take down. talk about redundancy, resiliency, incredible capability, and not just for the military, for commercial applications. global wi-fi, right? there you go. that s remarkable. it s great technology. for now, the u.s. still depends on their much larger predecessors, like this next-generation satellite, gps-3, due to launch in 2018. lockheed martin granted cnn an
to launch in 2018. lockheed martin granted cnn an exclusive first ever look at the gps 3 in production, a classified and clean environment in which one stray hair, a bit of dust could do significant damage. do you need to replenish the constellation? colonel steven whitney, director of the gps system under air force space command, tells us that these new satellites have new special capabilities. improving the ashlths, improving the integrity of the sig that ll, improving the power, the ability to overcome other signals in the area. meaning the gps satellites will be harder for enemies to jam. other new satellites have shutters to block lasers and thrusters and fuel to move out of harm s way. more agile spacecraft for a more dangerous space environment. but are u.s. adversaries making bigger, faster leaps?