Pentagon pulls the plug on one of the military’s most troubled space programs

The Pentagon has officially scrapped the ground control system intended for the military's GPS satellite navigation network, citing persistent issues that proved too difficult to overcome. The US Space Force made this announcement in a press release on Monday, revealing that the Global Positioning System Next-Generation Operational Control System, or OCX, is no longer in development. This decision, announced by Michael Duffey, the Pentagon's defense acquisition executive, marks the end of a complex 16-year endeavor that cost billions of dollars. The OCX program aimed to create a command and control system for the military’s GPS satellite constellation, incorporating new software to manage advanced signals from the latest GPS satellites, known as GPS III, which began launching in 2018. It also included two master control stations and updates to various global ground monitoring stations. Originally contracted to Raytheon, now RTX Corporation, in 2010, the OCX program was expected to be completed by 2016 at a budget of $3.7 billion. However, projections ballooned to nearly $8 billion, nearing the cost of an entire fleet of approximately 30 new GPS satellites, with the timeline stretching nearly a decade beyond initial estimates. Although RTX provided the control system to the Space Force last year, subsequent testing revealed that it was not operationally ready. Col. Stephen Hobbs, commander of the Space Force’s Mission Delta 31, responsible for GPS operations, expressed disappointment over the extensive system issues encountered during integrated testing. He stated, "Despite numerous collaborative efforts by both the government and contractor teams, we could not resolve the challenges within a feasible timeline. The issues we identified could jeopardize the current capabilities of GPS for both military and civilian use." In response to the program's cancellation, an RTX spokesperson acknowledged the government's decision regarding GPS OCX. They noted that Raytheon delivered the system in 2025 and has been actively supporting the Space Force in post-delivery operations. The spokesperson emphasized RTX's commitment to working closely with the government on future steps.