Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) has been awarded a contract worth up to $105 million by the U.S. Space Force to continue modernizing and sustaining the Global Positioning System (GPS) ground control network. This will support resilient positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services from the GPS constellation for military and civilian users. The new contract expands on a decade of work under the Space Force’s Architecture Evolution Plan, during which Lockheed Martin has steadily modernized the GPS ground segment. Under the agreement, the company will support launch, early orbit, and disposal operations for GPS IIIF space vehicles. It will also enhance the capabilities and resiliency of the GPS enterprise for military and civilian users who rely on these spacecraft for critical warfighting operations, plus daily functions like transportation, banking or utilities.
“For more than ten years, Lockheed Martin has delivered and sustained operational GPS ground capability, evolving the system to provide resilient and mission-proven services that underpin daily warfighter operations,” said Christina Mancinelli, vice president of Global Communication & Navigation at Lockheed Martin. “Our continued work on the integrated GPS enterprise reflects an unwavering commitment to delivering reliable capability to the warfighter and to users around the world.”
These upgrades strengthen the end-to-end GPS enterprise, ensuring continuous service for national defense and commercial users. Launch capabilities provided under this contract will allow for more M-Code-enabled GPS IIIF space vehicles to be available on-orbit, increasing signal resiliency for military users. In parallel, Lockheed Martin has completed production of all GPS III satellites , which provide eight-times greater resiliency and three-times higher accuracy than legacy spacecraft. The company is now focused on producing GPS IIIF satellites at its Denver, Colo. facility. These next-generation spacecraft will transmit an anti-jam signal that is 63 times more powerful than earlier models, further expanding the GPS constellation’s performance for the nation’s warfighters and global customers.
Currently, there are 31 satellites on orbit in the operational GPS constellation, with Lockheed Martin building satellites from GPS IIRM onward: As part of the U.S. Space Force’s effort to modernize today’s GPS network with new technology and advanced capabilities, Lockheed Martin is building up to 32 next-generation GPS III/IIIF satellites. Currently, the company is on contract for up to spacecraft 22. To support the launch and operation of current and upcoming GPS III and GPS IIIF satellites, Lockheed Martin has been leading upgrades of the complex ground network that underpins the satellite constellation. These upgrades have taken place under the GPS Control Segment (GCS) II contract. Notably, this ground control system has sustained a special capability called M-Code, which is a critical warfighter capability that supports GPS in contested environments.
