Space Force continues GPS modernization with $514M Lockheed Martin contract for two satellites

DENVER - Lockheed Martin said the U.S. Space Force has awarded a $514 million contract to build GPS IIIF Space Vehicles 23 and 24, extending the company’s total production commitment under the program to 14 satellites.

The award is part of the service’s ongoing modernization of the Global Positioning System (GPS) architecture, as legacy spacecraft continue operating beyond their original design life and adversary electronic warfare threats intensify across contested RF environments.

GPS IIIF (GPS III Follow-On) is the next increment of the constellation upgrade, designed to increase both signal performance and resilience rather than simply expand capacity. For military users, the program is centered on hardened positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) delivery in jamming and spoofing environments that increasingly characterize peer and near-peer operational theaters.

Related: Final GPS III satellite launch sets stage for next-generation GPS IIIF

Anti-jam RMP

A key feature is Regional Military Protection (RMP), which enables higher-power, regionally configurable anti-jam GPS broadcast capability intended to improve link margin for receivers operating under electronic attack. The spacecraft also expands the availability of encrypted M-code signals used for military PNT assurance, enabling authenticated and resilient navigation for platforms such as fighter aircraft, rotorcraft, and autonomous systems.

The satellites incorporate a “digital navigation payload” architecture intended to improve onboard generation and management of navigation signals, supporting greater flexibility in signal control and potential future capability insertion without full platform redesign.

"Modernizing the constellation with highly resilient, next-generation space vehicles ensures warfighters have access to the GPS capabilities they require for their missions," said Christina Mancinelli, vice president of global communications and navigation at Lockheed Martin.

LM2100 bus details

The spacecraft are built on the LM2100 Combat Bus, which adds hardened avionics, increased electrical power margin, and expanded thermal and propulsion capability compared with earlier GPS III configurations. The bus is also designed to support incremental upgrades in cybersecurity and payload flexibility, reflecting the shift toward more software- and electronics-driven evolution of space vehicles.

Related: NASA shifts SBIR/STTR to BAA model with higher funding caps

From an embedded systems and space electronics perspective, GPS IIIF reflects broader industry trends toward modular payload integration and digitally enabled navigation architectures, in which signal processing, encryption, and waveform generation are increasingly software-defined functions executed within radiation-tolerant processing environments.

Earlier GPS III spacecraft delivered improved anti-jam performance and modernized civil signals; IIIF builds on that baseline with enhanced resiliency for contested spectrum operations and expanded civil signal robustness, including L1C and L5 broadcasts intended to improve interoperability with international GNSS systems.

Lockheed Martin said it has completed core mate milestones on three GPS IIIF spacecraft, a key integration step marking structural and subsystem alignment prior to full system integration. Remaining satellites are in various stages of production at the company’s Denver-area facilities, where digital twin modeling and augmented reality tools are being used to accelerate assembly and reduce integration risk.

The company also recently received a separate $105 million contract to continue modernization of the GPS ground control segment, which manages satellite command and control and ensures constellation-wide timing integrity.