The satellites portfolio includes $1,700,000,000 for one GPS 3 satellite, the GPS 3 ground system, and user terminals.
Troubles and delays to the GPS ground control system prevent the Air Force from adequately testing the full capabilities of GPS 3 satellites before they are procured and incorporated into the operational constellation.
Congress appropriated $451,000,000 in 2019 for GPS 3 satellites being built by Lockheed Martin Space Systems and $513,000,000 for the accompanying ground system.
Lockheed Martin is building the first 10 GPS 3 satellites under a 2008 contract and received a $7,200,000,000 contract for 22 follow-on GPS 3F satellites in September after Boeing and Northrop Grumman declined to bid.
Air Force and Lockheed Martin engineers performed a launch and checkout test after the first GPS 3 launch using elements of OCX Block 0.
Lockheed Martin finished deploying the first GPS 3 satellite's antennas and solar panels on 2019-01-02 during initial checkout.
GPS 3 includes a new L1C civil signal that provides compatibility with other international global navigation satellite systems such as Europe’s Galileo.
The first GPS 3 satellite launched 2018-12-23 from Cape Canaveral, Florida aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.
The Lockheed Martin upgrades to the legacy ground control system will allow the Air Force to operate the GPS 3 constellation with the existing ground system until 2025.
Lockheed Martin is under contract to manufacture 10 GPS 3 spacecraft and 22 follow-on GPS 3F satellites over the next decade.
Raytheon’s OCX Block 0 launch and checkout system will support the launch of future GPS 3 satellites.
The GPS 3 satellites that Lockheed Martin is building are designed to operate for at least 15 years.
GPS 3 will be the first GPS satellite to do launch and control checkout with the Air Force’s new ground control system OCX Block 0.
The Air Force has selected SpaceX to launch four additional GPS 3 satellites beyond the 2018-12-23 mission.
In September 2018 the Air Force selected Lockheed Martin to build up to 22 more GPS 3 satellites after reopening the program to competition.
The new GPS 3 satellite replaces an aging GPS 2R spacecraft that was launched in 1997.
The Air Force intends to launch the second GPS 3 satellite in 2019.
Lockheed Martin is building the first 10 GPS 3 satellites under contracts awarded in 2008 and 2016.
SpaceX received the EELV contract for the GPS 3 mission in April 2016.
The GPS 3 launch is the first mission awarded to SpaceX under the Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) program.