The US Space Force successfully launched its latest GPS III satellite into orbit on Friday, marking a major milestone in its efforts to condense timelines for military spacecraft launches.
The satellite, built by Lockheed Martin and equipped with improved anti-jamming capabilities, was launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Base in Florida. This marks the second mission in the Rapid Response Trailblazer series, which aims to test whether the Space Force can quickly launch high-value satellites in response to national security needs.
The goal of this program is to shorten the process that can take up to two years down to a handful of months. The first mission in December reduced the time between launch notification and lift-off to around five months, while the latest mission achieved an impressive 90-day timeline.
According to Mission Director Walt Lauderdale, the Space Force has demonstrated its ability to rapidly respond to changing needs, making it possible to get something on orbit quickly if necessary. The service’s Tactically Responsive Launch program has shown that it can launch small payloads on commercial rockets on demand, but this latest mission proves the capability on larger and more complex payloads.
The GPS III satellite was chosen for this mission due to high demand from DOD users for the military signal, M-Code. By using a SpaceX rocket, the Space Force was able to test the flexibility of both the launch firm and Lockheed Martin as the satellite provider. The team expects more spacecraft to have multi-vehicle qualification in the future.
The successful launch also highlights the importance of having systems on standby, ready to launch when needed. With multiple GPS III satellites available, the team could utilize one for this mission, demonstrating the utility of having completed vehicles in the factory and ready to respond.
Source: https://www.defensenews.com/space/2025/06/02/space-force-demos-rapid-turnaround-on-latest-gps-iii-launch