As of February 2026 situation with R-GPS (Resilient GPS) has changed radically: now the US Space Force has officially shut down the program, while Congress tries to save her.
Here are the key facts about this matchup:
In January 2026 of 2018, the Space Force excluded R-GPS from the budget request for 2026 The financial year. The main reasons:
Changing priorities: Command of space systems (SSC) stated, that the funds are needed for other critical needs of the Air Force.
Completion of the research phase: The military claims, that "Phase 0" (conceptual design) successfully completed and provided enough knowledge for future architectures without the need for immediate deployment.
Bet on traditional GPS: Instead of small R-GPS satellites, forces are focused on completing the GPS III and GPS IIIF constellations.
Despite the decision of the military, Legislators continue to support R-GPS:
Funding against rejection: In January 2022 year the House of Representatives included 15 million dollars to the defense budget specifically to support R-GPS, to prevent the program from disappearing permanently.
Security concerns: Congressmen believe, that existing GPS is too vulnerable to interference (jamming) and signal changes (spoofing) from China and Russia. They insist, that are small, cheap R-GPS satellites are needed to quickly boost signal stability.
Previously, the situation was reversed: Space Force asked for money through the "quick start" mechanism, and Congress blocked them, doubting the expediency. Now, when the military decided to integrate R-GPS lessons into other projects, Congress, on the contrary, is pushing, for the program to continue as a standalone, active project.
Source: https://spacenews.com