Space Force bumps Astrion from Resilient GPS program
Last September, the service's acquisition arm, Space Systems Command, awarded L3Harris, Sierra Space, Astranis and Axient — which has since been acquired by Astrion — each $10 million contracts to draft early concepts for a constellation of small, low-cost, resilient GPS satellites. In December and January, after early design reviews with each firm, SSC opted to 'discontinue' Astrion's contract, according to Cordell DeLaPena, program executive officer for military communications and positioning, navigation and timing.
'There was one vendor that wasn't quite at the level of maturity, so we discontinued that vendor and we're going to harvest the remaining dollars and invest those in the three remaining vendors,' DeLaPena told Defense News in an interview Thursday.
Astrion declined to comment on the Space Force's decision.
SSC is still negotiating the terms of the contract cancellation, so it's not clear how much funding will be redistributed among the remaining vendors, DeLaPena said. With four companies, the service was able to fund the first six months of the effort, known as R-GPS. The hope is that the additional money will be enough to get the remaining three firms through the program's first phase, he said, which will culminate this spring with a final design review and demonstration.
After the demonstration, the service plans to choose at least two companies to finalize their designs and build prototypes over the program's next phase. It will then pick one or more firms to build the first eight satellites, which it wants ready for launch by 2028.
R-GPS is expected to cost $1 billion over the next five years. At around $50 to $80 million each, the satellites are projected to cost a fraction of the $250 million the service is spending for just one Lockheed Martin-built GPS IIIF satellite.
The lower unit cost and smaller size means the individual spacecraft have less capability than the legacy alternative. But when flying together as a constellation of dozens of satellites, they'll augment those more exquisite spacecraft with a backup capability that, in theory, is harder for enemies to target.
R-GPS satellites will have a range of civil signals as well as M-code, a more secure military signal with anti-jam capabilities.
The program was funded with a new Pentagon budget authority called quick start, provided in the fiscal 2024 National Defense Authorization Act and championed by former Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall. The authority — created out of a recognition that it can take more than two years for a new program to get funded through the Defense Department's budget process — allows the DOD to shift a total of $100 million annually from the services' budgets to begin development on new programs.
R-GPS received $40 million through quick start and requested Congress realign another $77 million in fiscal 2025 for the program. Lawmakers pushed back on the request, citing concerns about whether the effort would have a real impact on GPS resiliency and questioning the Space Force's plans for fielding ground terminals.
DeLaPena said SSC has made some progress in those discussions, and he's hopeful Congress will approve its fiscal 2025 request.
'From my perspective, we've answered all the questions, all the requests for information, that have come down on the space side,' he said. 'As of right now, we're just waiting to see what the final decision is.'
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