Overview
- The Defense Acquisition Executive terminated the GPS OCX program Friday, acting on a Space Force recommendation to halt the troubled attempt to replace the system that runs the GPS satellites.
- After the Space Force accepted an initial OCX delivery in July 2025, integrated testing uncovered widespread software and integration failures that officials said could jeopardize current military and civilian GPS service.
- The program’s price reached about $6.27 billion as of January 2026 and slipped roughly a decade past its original 2016 target.
- The Space Force will keep flying the constellation with the incumbent Architecture Evolution Plan, backed by a recent $105 million Lockheed Martin contract to add capability and sustain operations.
- Leaders say the cancellation marks a pivot away from single, all-or-nothing software buys toward quicker, incremental deliveries, with some GPS III features still waiting on ground-side upgrades.