On August 13, 2014, SIL staff watched United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V loft DigitalGlobe’s WorldView-3 satellite from Vandenberg AFB — a milestone for SIL’s Vehicle Based Independent Tracking System (VBITS).
The flight marked a historic transition from decades of ground radar tracking to onboard GPS metric tracking on Atlas and Delta rockets flying Eastern and Western Range missions. VBITS integrates a GPS receiver, processor, and power modules into a space-qualified unit that improves track accuracy while cutting range operations and maintenance cost.