EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The U.S. Space Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $95 million contract modification for the GPS III Follow-On (GPS IIIF) satellite program, increasing the total cumulative value of the spacecraft production contract to $4.73 billion.
Announced by the Department of Defense on Friday, Oct. 30, 2026, the contract modification (P00208) fully funds an equitable adjustment to resolve production line impacts caused by prior federal budget deferrals.
Production Schedule Stabilization and Contract History
The $95 million award settles a formal Request for Equitable Adjustment submitted after the Department of the Air Force omitted new satellite orders during the fiscal year 2025 budget request, creating a year-long production hiatus known as a “Zero Buy”. The payment stabilizes Lockheed Martin’s manufacturing line in Littleton, Colorado, covering overhead and parts continuity costs without adding new spacecraft hulls to the manifest.
The contract adjustment follows an active procurement cadence for the core positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) constellation. In June 2026, Space Systems Command awarded Lockheed Martin a $514 million contract for GPS IIIF space vehicles 23 and 24, expanding the total number of follow-on spacecraft under firm contract to 14. That procurement reinforced the primary constellation following congressional scrutiny over the service’s decision to terminate the Resilient GPS program in favor of hardening heavy orbital assets.
Technical Architecture and Spacecraft Upgrades
Under prime contract FA8807-18-C-0009, originally awarded in 2018 with options for up to 22 space vehicles, the GPS IIIF line introduces critical survivability enhancements compared to baseline GPS III platforms:
- Anti-Jam Resiliency: Integrates Regional Military Protection (RMP), delivering a 63-fold increase in anti-jam resistance over legacy military code (M-Code) transmissions.
- Hardened Combat Bus: Starting with vehicle SV13, satellites will integrate Lockheed Martin’s LM2100 Combat Bus, featuring enhanced cyber defenses and hardened structural shielding.
- Secondary Payloads: Each satellite incorporates an upgraded search-and-rescue payload and a laser retroreflector array for high-precision orbit determination.
Delivery Schedule and Future Procurement Options
Lockheed Martin is scheduled to deliver the first GPS IIIF space vehicle (SV11) in 2027, transitioning the program from development to operational fielding under Space Systems Command’s Military Communications and PNT Directorate. The Space Force currently retains eight unexercised production options under the master contract, with fiscal year 2027 budget deliberations set to determine procurement for SV25 and SV26.
