GPS III & Projects Global Positioning System Enterprise
The first ten GPS III satellites make up GPS Block III, which will be needed to maintain the Navstar Global Positioning System's functionality. The ten Block III satellites and the GPS III Non-Flight Satellite Testbed (GNST) were created, developed, and constructed by Lockheed Martin. In December 2018, the first satellite in the constellation was sent into orbit. In 2023, the tenth and last GPS Block III launch are anticipated. The A2100M satellite bus structure is used by Lockheed Martin's Block III satellites. Orbital ATK creates the pressurant and propellant tanks using composite materials that are both lightweight and highly durable. Eight deployable JIB antennas created and produced by Northrop Grumman Astro Aerospace will be carried by each satellite.
An US$82.7 million firm-fixed-price contract for launch services to send a GPS III satellite to its appropriate orbit was given to SpaceX in Hawthorne, California, on April 27, 2016, after the first satellite's planned 2014 flight had already been considerably postponed. The contract called for work to be done at Hawthorne, California; Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida; and McGregor, Texas, on the launch vehicle production; mission integration; and launch operations for a GPS III mission. The first satellite would launch in the spring of 2018, according to an announcement made by the director of the U.S. Air Force's Global Positioning Systems Directorate in December 2016.
The first GPS III satellite's scheduled March 2018 launch date is in jeopardy due to technical concerns with both the GPS III satellite and the OCX Block 0 launch control and checkout system, according to the General Accounting Office. There were a lot of causes that contributed to the delays, but the navigation payload problems were the main culprits. Additional testing and validation of a SpaceX Falcon 9 were required, which resulted in more launch date delays. The satellite was finally launched on December 23, 2018, despite these delays. The second GPS III satellite was launched onboard a Delta IV on August 22, 2019. The U.S. Air Force exercised a US$395 million contract option with Lockheed Martin on September 21 in order to purchase the ninth and tenth Block III spacecraft, which are planned to be ready for launch by 2022.
Cost per unit: $875.5 million
