RTX’s Long-Delayed $7 Billion GPS-Tracking Network Is Still Troubled, GAO Says
The new ground system is needed to take full advantage of improved GPS III satellites.
Photographer: Hugh Hastings/Getty ImagesA month before its planned delivery after years of delay and cost growth, RTX Corp.’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.
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.