The US Space Force wants to launch a backup GPS system

Ask anyone who’s ever lost an iPhone: backups can be crucial. The US Space Force recently selected four companies to develop concepts for new satellites that will act as a backup to the existing Global Positioning System (GPS).

A global force

Since the US Air Force (which oversees the Space Force) began deploying GPS ~50 years ago, this series of satellites has become critical to military and economic activity, generating $1.4+ trillion in economic benefits, according to a 2019 Commerce Department study. GPS is used across multiple industries – from enabling your Chinese takeout-carrying DoorDasher to navigate to your address, to allowing you to stalk your bf’s location via Find My Friends.

• There are currently 31 operational GPS satellites in orbit, a mix of modern and older spacecraft providing varying levels of capability, C4ISRNet reports.
• The US Space Force program, dubbed Resilient GPS (R-GPS), aims to launch a total of 24 new satellites across three phases to act as a backup to this existing infrastructure. The first phase would launch as early as 2028.

The driving idea: A GPS outage would be economically costly (~$1 billion/day) and affect military capabilities. Subtext: The potential threat from US adversaries like Russia and China is growing.

🖐️ But… Not everyone is on board with the plan. The House Appropriations’ defense subcommittee denied a $77 million funding request for R-GPS in the 2025 fiscal year, due to concerns about the plan's effectiveness vs. other potential options, such as alternative positioning or timing systems.