SpaceX has taken a fourth GPS satellite launch from United Launch Alliance in just over a year. Space Systems Command confirmed Friday it transferred the GPS Block III final satellite from ULA to a Falcon 9, marking a sustained pattern of ULA failing to deliver on military commitments.
ULA, the Boeing-Lockheed Martin joint venture, was slated to fly this mission on its Vulcan rocket. That rocket is not available. The three GPS satellites before this one were also supposed to fly Vulcan, and all three moved to SpaceX starting in 2024. To compensate ULA, the military handed it three future launches, including GPS III SV10. That arrangement is now unraveling in real time.
The full article is worth reading for what it reveals about how the Pentagon is managing a launch provider that cannot meet its schedule, and what the ongoing shuffle of contracts between SpaceX and ULA signals about the long-term viability of ULA as a national security launch option.
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