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What’s new: A string of statements and actions that probably indicate the troubled OCX program is about to be cancelled for failing to deliver a workable system after 16 years and $8B of effort.
Why it’s important: GPS needs an upgraded and cyber-secure ground system for command and control of America’s all-important GPS constellation.
What else to know: Here are some indicators:
- Air Force Secretary and Pentagon Acquisition Chief ponder cancelling program. – Defense Daily
- Space Force Chief says eyeing cancelling program – Inside Defense
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Lockheed Martin nabs $105M ground system contract to support next-gen GPS – Breaking Defense
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The $8 Billion GPS Ground System That Never Worked — And the Quiet Decision to Route Around It – Space Daily – This one has good background on this long, failed effort.
The U.S. Space Force has reportedly awarded Lockheed Martin a contract to manage ground control operations for the next generation of GPS satellites, a decision that amounts to an institutional admission: the Pentagon’s long-troubled OCX program cannot do the job it was built to do.
The award covers launch, early orbit, and disposal operations for GPS IIIF satellites, using the existing Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP) ground control system rather than the Next Generation Operational Control System that was supposed to replace it. The contract puts Lockheed Martin back in the driver’s seat of GPS ground operations, a position RTX (formerly Raytheon) was meant to claim when it won the OCX contract over a decade ago.
