The US Space Force signed a contract with Lockheed Martin to 514 million dollars to build two additional GPS 3F satellites, designed to increase stability
to jamming and other electronic threats.
15 June 2026 year, the company reported, that the contract covers GPS 3F satellites #23 and #24. They are part of the latest generation of global positioning system spacecraft, which provide positioning services, navigation and time synchronization for the US military, civil infrastructure and commercial users worldwide. The order arrived less than a year later, as the Space Force requested GPS 3F satellites #21 and #22 for 509,7 a million dollars. Both contracts were concluded as part of the agreement 2018 year, which allows the Cosmic Forces to purchase up to 22 satellites.
One of the enhancements to GPS 3F is the Regional Military Protection feature (Regional military protection), which allows satellites to concentrate the power of an encrypted military signal over specific geographic areas. This capability is designed to increase resistance to jamming and other forms of electronic interference in challenging environments. Like GPS satellites 3, the new devices will broadcast an encrypted military M-Code signal, which provides more secure positioning services, navigation and time synchronization for military users compared to civilian GPS signals. The new satellites also include a fully digital navigation payload and will transmit civil L1C and L5 signals with improved accuracy and reliability.
For reference: L1C and L5 are the latest upgraded civilian satellite navigation signals (primarily American GPS, as well as the European Galileo, China's BeiDou, etc). They were created, to replace the old single frequency standards, to increase the accuracy of positioning to several centimeters and to improve the work of navigators in difficult conditions (example, in cities among skyscrapers or under thick trees).
Efforts to modernize GPS are taking place against the background of that, that military planners place more emphasis on protecting navigation and time synchronization services from disruption. Jamming and tampering with satellite navigation signals has become more common in recent conflicts, prompting the Pentagon to upgrade its GPS, as well as to investments in additional positioning technologies, navigation and time synchronization.
Source: https://spacenews.com