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The GPS OCX program was slated to begin operations in 2016.
The Pentagon is weighing whether to cancel the U.S. Space Force's GPS enterprise’s beleaguered ground control system program after years of cascading delays, ballooning costs and unreliable operations.
The U.S. Space Force’s Next-Generation Operational Control System—also known as GPS OCX—was established in 2010 when the Air Force selected Raytheon (now RTX) to develop a modernized ground control system to support the forthcoming GPS Block III satellite constellation.
- Government watchdog warns that program could fall even further behind
- Pentagon threatens to eliminate low-performing capabilities
The first of those next-generation satellites, built by Lockheed Martin, launched in 2018. Eight more have followed to date, and the 10th is awaiting launch on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket within the next few months. With 32 GPS satellites on orbit, the Space Force is relying on OCX to tap into the newer systems’ more jam-resistant and precise navigation capabilities.
But service and Pentagon leaders have lamented the OCX program’s subpar performance and indicated that it faces an uncertain future. Thomas Ainsworth, who is performing the duties of the assistant secretary of the Air Force for space acquisition and integration, described OCX as “a very stressing program” in a March 25 House Armed Services Strategic Forces Subcommittee hearing.
“We are still considering how to ensure we move forward,” Ainsworth said. Chief of Space Operations Gen. Chance Saltzman called the OCX program “a serious issue” during an April 1 appearance at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies’ Spacepower Security Forum in Washington.
The decision over OCX’s future rests with the Pentagon’s undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment, Michael Duffey. A spokesperson for Duffey’s office declined to comment on the program’s status moving forward.
As envisioned, OCX would support a new jam-resistant, military-hardened signal known as M-code as well as modernized civil signals while providing increased position, navigation and timing capabilities and more robust cyber defenses.
From the start, the program has faced challenges. Originally scheduled to be complete in 2016, its ballooning costs instead triggered a Nunn-McCurdy breach that year. Over the next decade, costs and delays continued to cascade. RTX delivered a baseline capability called Block 0 in 2017 to support GPS III launch, checkout and initial testing but not full operations.
In September 2024, the Government Accountability Office wrote that total program costs had swelled to $7.6 billion by November 2023 and that final acceptance was not expected until December 2025. Meanwhile, RTX’s primary contract option was set to expire March 31, 2026.
The Space Force last July took ownership of OCX software Blocks 1 and 2—which would provide full command and control over the new constellation—and began its own development testing. Those tests revealed even more “extensive system issues across all subsystems, many of which have not been resolved,” Ainsworth said in his written congressional testimony.
A March report by the Pentagon’s top weapons evaluator warned that continued delays to the OCX program put warfighters and allies at risk because the full M-code capability is not yet available for operations in the field, leaving systems vulnerable to jamming by adversaries. Those schedule slippages are compressing the timeline to deliver the next generation of ground systems, the report added. Additionally, the program to upgrade military GPS receivers to support the more secure M-code signal over various platforms has faltered.
RTX has struggled to meet its delivery timelines across several programs, and President Donald Trump criticized the company as “the least responsive” to Pentagon needs in January on social media. In 2024, RTX President Chris Calio announced that the company would “pivot” from competing as a space prime to focus on supplying components to larger integrators instead.
An RTX spokesperson called the OCX program “a large-scale, highly complex ground system modernization effort” in an emailed statement. “U.S. Space Force accepted delivery of a mission-capable system in 2025 and assumed operational control at that time,” the spokesperson said. “RTX is working alongside the government to address any postdelivery concerns.”
Speaking to lawmakers, Ainsworth placed the blame on both the contractor and the government for problems with program management, contractor performance and system engineering.
As a backstop, the Pentagon is evaluating upgrading the legacy ground system built by Lockheed Martin, known as the Architecture Evolution Plan (AEP). The system has received multiple system enhancements over the years, and “continued AEP modernization is now a viable option as systemic issues with OCX continue,” Ainsworth said in written testimony.
Meanwhile, the Space Force on April 1 awarded RTX a $45 million contract modification for OCX to ensure the U.S. government can launch, check out and maintain GPS for current and future space vehicles, a Department of the Air Force spokesperson tells Aviation Week.
The fate of OCX is being decided as Pentagon officials profess a renewed determination to hold industry partners accountable for delivering new capabilities on time. The Space Force plans to perform complete and regular reviews of each of its programs, Ainsworth said at a March 17 conference in Washington, warning that any issues could lead to “award fee impacts” or even program termination.
The service will also continue to use the Space Contractor Responsibility Watch List, an internal performance-based list of underperforming industry partners first established by the National Reconnaissance Office and then adopted by the intelligence agency’s former deputy director Frank Calvelli after he became the Space Force acquisition chief in 2022.
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