{"id":9644,"date":"2026-01-14T00:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/u-s-space-force-switches-rockets-for-upcoming-gps-satellite-launch\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T00:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:35:59","slug":"u-s-space-force-switches-rockets-for-upcoming-gps-satellite-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/u-s-space-force-switches-rockets-for-upcoming-gps-satellite-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"U.S. Space Force switches rockets for upcoming GPS satellite launch"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, the ninth GPS III spacecraft, is pictured traveling by road from Lockheed Martin facilities in Denver, CO, to Florida\u2019s Space Coast. Image: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. Space Force\u2019s Space Systems Command System Delta 80 said Tuesday.<\/p>\n

SpaceX could launch the GPS III Space Vehicle 09 (SV09) within the next few weeks, as the satellite was entering the final stages of pre-flight preparations. As part of the swap, United Launch Alliance (ULA) will instead launch the third of the next generation of Global Positioning System satellites. The GPS III Follow-on (GPS IIIF) SV13 satellite was originally scheduled to launch on a Falcon Heavy, but will now fly on Vulcan.<\/p>\n

\u201cSV09 and SV13 were traded between ULA and SpaceX to get capability to orbit as soon as possible, for the same reason as the prior swap, which resulted in the last GPS launch in May 2025,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe trade results in an overall net cost savings to the government and again demonstrates our sustained commitment to moving at speed to deliver combat-credible capabilities on orbit to meet warfighter needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The GPS IIIF Space Vehicle 13 satellite seen in early 2025 inside a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver, CO, as it goes through the process known as \u201ccore mate.\u201d That\u2019s where the equipment panels containing the major electronics for the satellite bus and payload are mated with the propulsion core and subsystems. Image: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

SV09 was originally awarded to ULA as part of order year five of the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract, which was announced on Oct. 31, 2023. That year, ULA was awarded 11 missions (valued at $1.3 billion), including the mission named GPS III-9, which would\u2019ve launched the SV09 spacecraft. Originally, SV13 was slated to fly on a Falcon Heavy rocket \u201cin a future calendar year.\u201d That mission was originally awarded to SpaceX as part of the first order year for the NSSL Phase 3 Lane 2 contract announced on April 7, 2025.<\/p>\n

This isn\u2019t the first time that the Space Force has shuffled timelines and switched launch providers for GPS missions.<\/p>\n

Back in May 2025, SpaceX launched the GPS III SV08 spacecraft, which was originally assigned to ULA in June 2023. In exchange, ULA was given the SV11 launch, which would have flown on a Falcon Heavy rocket.<\/p>\n

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SpaceX\u2019s Falcon 9 rocket lifts off from the pad at Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to begin the RRT-1 mission. Image: Adam Bernstein\/Spaceflight Now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In December 2024, the Space Force had SpaceX launch the SV07 spacecraft, which was originally assigned to ULA. The mission, called the Rapid Response Trailblazer, was designed to \u201cminimize the impact of Vulcan delays\u201d to the Space Force\u2019s launch manifest, according to Col. Doug Pentecost, the deputy program executive officer at the time for Space Systems Command\u2019s Assured Access to Space program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The GPS III Space Vehicle 09, the ninth GPS III spacecraft, is pictured traveling by road from Lockheed Martin facilities in Denver, CO, to Florida\u2019s Space Coast. Image: Lockheed Martin The next Global Positioning System satellite is switching from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket to a SpaceX Falcon 9, a spokesperson for the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[856,479,843,605,316,857,560,750],"class_list":["post-9644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-assured-access-to-space","tag-falcon-9","tag-gps-iii-sv09","tag-space-systems-command","tag-spacex","tag-system-delta-80","tag-u-s-space-force","tag-united-launch-alliance"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9644"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9644\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}