The Space Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $105 million contract to continue supporting its interim GPS ground system as the Pentagon considers the future of a broader, long-delayed modernization effort.
The contract, awarded April 8, is for the Architecture Evolution Plan, which Lockheed has been sustaining and upgrading since 2016. Today, AEP provides command and control for the entire GPS constellation, and the new contract funds additional enhancements to allow the system to support launch, early orbit, and disposal operations for the newest GPS variant, IIIF, the first of which is slated to launch in fiscal 2027.
The award comes as the Pentagon is weighing how to proceed with a larger ground system modernization program, the Next-Generation GPS Operational Control Segment, or GPS OCX. Air & Space Forces Magazine first reported last month that the Pentagon’s acquisition chief, who has oversight of the program, is considering canceling the program, among other options, due to persistent schedule delays.
Developed by RTX, the ground system was supposed to be delivered in 2016 for a cost of $3.7 billion, but OCX is now 10 years late and its cost estimate has grown to $8 billion—nearly $12 billion in fiscal 2010 dollars, the year the contract was awarded.
RTX delivered a baseline “Block 0” OCX capability in 2017, which can support launch and checkout but can’t command and control the satellites. Blocks 1 and 2 transitioned to government testing last July, but a Space Force spokesperson said software defects arose during testing that will require “substantially more time than planned to resolve.”
The Space Force has since conducted detailed analysis of the program’s status that lays out options for how to proceed with OCX, according to the spokesperson. The service has submitted those options to Undersecretary of Defense for Acquisition and Sustainment Michael Duffey, who will make a final determination for how to proceed.
The spokesperson didn’t detail all of the alternatives the service laid out but said one path the Defense Department could choose is to cancel OCX and instead proceed with additional upgrades to AEP, including enhancements to allow GPS III’s L5 civilian signal to support GPS III satellites.
Speaking April 1 at the Mitchell Institute’s Spacepower Forum, Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman described OCX deficiencies as “a serious issue.” As the Pentagon determines next steps, Saltzman said there is no plan to change the program’s requirements, but noted that whatever system prevails, it needs to be prepared to support future GPS satellites, including IIIF and beyond.
“That’s what the secretary will have to balance as we decide whether to pivot or whether to continue,” he said.
