Overview
- GPS III SV10, launched Tuesday at 2:53 a.m. ET from Cape Canaveral, secured signal acquisition and entered early checkout under Lockheed Martin in Denver.
- The satellite will raise to its operational medium Earth orbit over about 10 days, then complete two to three days of testing before handover to the U.S. Space Force.
- SV10 carries an optical crosslink demo so GPS satellites can talk to each other in space, and a digital rubidium atomic clock to test more precise, stable timing.
- SpaceX flew a previously used Falcon 9 booster, B1095, with a planned drone-ship landing and fairing recovery as part of its reuse playbook.
- The mission closes out the GPS III block and feeds into GPS IIIF production, which adds Regional Military Protection for more than a 60-fold boost in anti-jamming.