Two task orders from the U.S. Space Force, together worth about $114M, hand Lockheed Martin the job of rewiring how GPS satellites are commanded from the ground.
The bigger piece, $96M, funds the GPS IIIF Contingency Operations System. Lockheed will modify the architecture already in place so it can operate the payloads on the next-generation spacecraft. A second order, $17.5M, opens the first of three phases in the Architecture Evolution Plan x86 refresh, which pushes GPS ground hardware and software toward a modular design.
Lockheed already sustains the current control segment for the Space Force, and in April it separately won $105M for launch, early-orbit and disposal work on GPS IIIF spacecraft.
The changes matter because the ground is where the constellation is actually run. Operators watch spacecraft health, upload commands and navigation data, and keep the timing service that transport, finance, telecoms and utilities lean on. The added capacity is meant to bring more GPS IIIF satellites online, carrying the encrypted M-Code military signal built to hold up against jamming in contested environments.
The orders arrive as GPS users face steady jamming and spoofing. Space Systems Command is separately prototyping a successor command-and-control architecture after the Pentagon cancelled Raytheon’s $6.27B OCX program.
