Particle.news
Download on the App Store

Pentagon Cancels Troubled GPS OCX Ground System After Test Failures

Leaders signaled a shift to incremental software delivery.

Overview

  • Defense acquisition chief Michael Duffey signed the OCX termination Friday after a Space Force recommendation, with the decision disclosed Monday.
  • Integrated testing in 2025–2026 found widespread software and system defects that risked degrading current military and civilian GPS service.
  • The Space Force will keep operating on the legacy Architecture Evolution Plan ground system and has hired Lockheed Martin on a $105 million contract to add near‑term upgrades.
  • The OCX effort, awarded to Raytheon (now RTX) in 2010, slipped roughly a decade past its 2016 target and cost about $6.27 billion by January 2026.
  • Officials framed the cancellation as a move away from monolithic, all‑or‑nothing programs toward faster, modular releases that can be fielded in steps.