RTX's Long-Delayed $7 Billion GPS-Tracking Network Is Still Troubled, GAO Says

A month before its planned delivery after years of delay and cost growth, RTX's $7.6 billion ground network to control GPS satellites is still marred by problems that may further stall its acceptance by the US Space Force, congressional auditors said Monday. From a report: RTX's system of 17 ground stations for current and improved GPS satellites was supposed to be ready by October, when it would undergo a series of intense Space Force tests to assess whether it can be declared operational by December 2025. The system continues to draw the ire of lawmakers because it's running more than seven years late in a development phase that's about 73% costlier than initial projections.

Two rounds of testing by the company have been "marked by significant challenges that drove delays to the program's schedule," the Government Accountability Office said Monday in a broad review of the US military's GPS program, including improvements intended to block jamming by adversaries.

The Next Generation Operational Control System, known as OCX, is intended to provide improvements, including access to more secure, jam-resistant software for the military's use of the GPS navigation system, which is also depended on by civilians worldwide. "The program faces challenges from product deficiencies" that "create a risk of further delay," the Pentagon's Defense Contract Management Agency told the GAO, adding that it expects RTX at the earliest to deliver OCX by December.

Let me guess...

[saloomy]

Cost Plus contract? Or payment in full on acceptance?

Re:

[schwit1]

The latest Air Force One fixed price contract needs to be the standard
https://apnews.com/article/bus... [apnews.com]

With that name, it's obvious.

[Anonymous Coward]

They don't have enough RTX 4090s.

Re:

[thesinfulgamer]

I was just thinking "I don't want GPS on my RTX card damnit!" before I realized it's a different company.... I'm dumb sometimes.

Just keep awarding more contracts

[JeffOwl]

This has been a problem program for years. It started back around 2010 and they have stumbled over and over again and the government keeps awarding them more contracts for the same thing (block 0, 1, and 2). I think RTX got another contract in 2021 for this same program to the tune of a couple hundred million.

Any way to do positioning without space devices?

[OneOfMany07]

Why do we rely only on space based devices for all this? Is it to force everyone to use this system that only the government can afford (and the military control)?

Meaning we don't have line of sight a lot of time already. Is that high altitude receiver/transmitter really that important?

I guess it helps prevent physical access (block signals physically or hack it easier) or easy replacement. I'd just always assumed there was something required and special about space based positioning hardware, and I don'

Re:

[AleRunner]

Why do we rely only on space based devices for all this? Is it to force everyone to use this system that only the government can afford (and the military control)?

When LORAN was got rid of about the only people who were really complaining about it were the US Military. Dunno what that really says, but given that Russia is trying to kill Americans today by interfering with GPS on local and wide scales, I guess they had a point.

Re: Any way to do positioning without space device

[50000BTU_barbecue]

Really? Russia is trying to kill Americans? Show me the body count vs Israel in the last two years, you know, your super duper ally and only democracy in the middle East?

Re:

[laughingskeptic]

Yes, there is a way to do this without space devices ... BUT ... Something like 10 airports currently have GBAS ground based GPS augmentation transmitters. This 2014 FAA report identified 29 airports that should get this system: https://www.faa.gov/sites/faa.... [faa.gov]. After 10 years, GBAS still has not been approved for CAT II or III operations. https://skybrary.aero/articles... [skybrary.aero] . So clearly this isn't easy or cheap.

Re:

[AmiMoJo]

LORAN is still around. After getting booted out of Galileo because of Brexit, the UK is trying to revive it and use it for both navigation and timing.

It doesn't work nearly as well as satellites because it is affected by ground path and the like.

Re:

[arglebargle_xiv]

It would have helped if TFA had explained what this is. From a quick Google it's some sort of really expensive complex alternative to differential GPS? Trimble says it's "a global GNSS correction source used to attain precise GNSS positioning", which sounds exactly like DGPS.

I guess you can use GLONASS

[50000BTU_barbecue]

In the meantime. How did the Russians get the washing machines into orbit though?

Shoulda gone with Northrop Grumman

[KlomDark]

Raytheon/RTX is in a state of constant chaos, hard to get anything done with them.

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

Raytheon. Oh, thats right: RTX was nominated for worst rebrand ever.

Wellfare state

[labradore]

RTX/Raytheon are feckless leeches.

SpaceX could probably design, build, launch and go live on a new GPS system in less time than it would take these buffoons to synchronize their wrist watches. Wouldn't be surprised if they did it for 10% of the cost.

Re:

[WarlockD]

Honestly just set up Starlink connection from home depot. It took 10 min to set up and get online with although it was flaky as I just had the antenna flat on the yard. Its very stable now that its mounted on the roof. Reason I bring this up is that those mini sats have to keep position information and transmit them constantly to keep connection stable. It gives to reason that maybe a gps could be made off the backs of something like this? The Starlink system was supposedly very cheap to put up once th