The U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command has awarded four contracts to Astranis, Axient, L3 Harris LHX -0.58%↓, and Sierra Space to produce design concepts for Resilient GPS, or R-GPS.  The initiative, part of the Space Force’s Lite Evolving Augmented Proliferation, will attempt to provide resilience to military and civil GPS communities by augmenting the regular GPS constellation with small satellites.

These small sats will transmit a core of widely-used GPS signals, the Space Force said.  In addition, the Space Force said the decision to pursue R-GPS came when recent studies recommended an additional “fleet of small GPS satellites.”

While the Space Force did not disclose the value of these awards, it has told Congress that the program will cost about $1 billion over the next five years.  The Space Force has moved $40 million in fiscal year 2023 funding to support the program, with $77 million more requested in 2025.

However, as Location Business News reported, the U.S. House Appropriations defense subcommittee says they aren’t sold on the Space Force’s plan to use R-GPS satellites to increase resiliency.  Before they recommended not to fund the $77 million that the Space Force requested in DoD’s fiscal 2025 budget request, the committee said that 20 proposed small sats transmitting core GPS signals may not provide much signal resilience.

The Space Force is using a Quick Start authority from National Defense Authorization Act, which to award the contracts in less than six months, which is faster than traditional space programs that can take years.

This R-GPS award is the first of three phases to produce up to eight R-GPS satellites available for launch as soon as 2028, the Space Force said.  The R-GPS program aims to launch as many as eight satellites via LEAPs, which are intended the to build on previous sats by adding more capabilities, the Space Force said.