Sierra Space announced this week that it has reached its third testing milestone in the U.S. Space Force‘s Resilient GPS (R-GPS) satellite program. The company said the milestone occurred with early integration of the R-GPS satellite technology through its FlatSat flight software and hardware subsystem testing.
Additionally, Sierra Space demonstrated successful communication between its ground software and a ground stations-as-a-service provider. The R-GPS program aims to enhance the resilience of GPS against threats like jamming and spoofing by incorporating a network of smaller satellites into the existing architecture, the company said.
Sierra Space announced in September a “Quick Start” R-GPS contract awarded by the Space Systems Command (SSC) to produce design concepts for smaller, more cost-effective GPS satellites. According to Erik Daehler, vice president of Sierra Space Defense, the field for this program has narrowed to three companies. He emphasized Sierra Space’s focus on advancing GPS technology for national security and stated that these demonstrations highlight their dedication to defense tech innovation.
Loveland, Colo.-based Sierra Space, along with Astranis and L3Harris, were the companies selected to compete in the R-GPS program.
The recent testing milestone showcased the successful flow of commands and telemetry between Sierra Space’s ground software and the ground stations provider, the company said. This step confirms that the technology will eventually function from orbit with ground-based facilities, the company said. The company also successfully tested flight software and hardware subsystems in a FlatSat configuration, where satellite components are laid out flat for evaluation.
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