Lockheed Martin Awarded $114 Million GPS Ground System Upgrade Order

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On September 10, Lockheed Martin announced that it had been awarded two GPS ground system modernization task orders by the U.S. Space Force, totaling approximately $114 million, respectively for the GPS IIIF Contingency Operations System and the Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) x86 Phase 1 upgrade. Both task orders target the existing GPS ground control architecture, providing support for subsequent GPS IIIF satellite operations and ground hardware and software updates.

The first task order is valued at $96 million. Lockheed Martin will upgrade the existing GPS ground system to provide it with the capability to control GPS IIIF payloads, delivering the corresponding ground control functions for the next-generation GPS IIIF satellites to enter operation. In June of this year, the U.S. Space Force also awarded Lockheed Martin a $514.4 million contract option to procure GPS IIIF satellites No. 23 and No. 24, bringing the total number of contracted GPS IIIF satellites to 14.

The second task order is valued at $17.5 million and corresponds to AEP x86 Phase 1. This task will initiate the first of three phases of hardware and software technology updates for the GPS ground system, adopting a modular approach to update the existing ground infrastructure and establishing a foundation for system upgrades in subsequent phases. The combined exact value of the two orders is $113.5 million, which Lockheed Martin disclosed as approximately $114 million in its announcement.

Lockheed Martin currently undertakes GPS Control Segment II-related ground system upgrade work. This architecture is responsible for supporting the operation of the in-service GPS III and subsequent GPS IIIF satellites, and has already achieved M-Code-related ground support capability. The newly added tasks will continue to expand the ground control capability for GPS IIIF satellites while updating the hardware and software architecture of the GPS ground system.