SpaceX launches GPS satellite for U.S. Space Force

ORLANDO, Fla. — A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched a U.S. Space Force GPS satellite late Jan. 27, continuing a string of national security missions reassigned from United Launch Alliance as the Space Force moves to accelerate deployment of the constellation.

The rocket lifted off at 11:53 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, carrying the GPS III SV-09 satellite into medium Earth orbit roughly 12,550 miles above the planet.

SV-09 is the ninth of 10 GPS III satellites built by Lockheed Martin under a 2008 contract. The spacecraft joins the newest generation of Global Positioning System satellites, which provide more accurate positioning, navigation, and timing services and greater resistance to jamming than earlier versions.

GPS III satellites transmit the encrypted M-code signal for U.S. military users, along with the L5 safety-of-life signal for aviation and other transportation applications. They also carry the L1C civil signal, designed to be compatible with other global navigation satellite systems. SV-09 is additionally equipped with a laser retroreflector array intended to improve measurements of Earth’s orientation within the GPS coordinate system.

SpaceX has launched most of the GPS III satellites to date. The SV-09 mission marks the third consecutive GPS launch originally assigned to United Launch Alliance but later transferred to SpaceX to speed deployment. SpaceX also launched GPS III SV-07 in December 2024 and SV-08 in May 2025.

ULA’s Vulcan Centaur rocket has been certified to fly national security missions, but it has completed only one such mission for the Space Force so far, in August 2025. Vulcan is scheduled to conduct its second national security launch in mid-February.

The reassignment highlights the shifting balance in the U.S. launch sector, where SpaceX now dominates both commercial and national security launches.

Under the swap agreement, ULA will instead launch a next-generation GPS IIIF satellite. The GPS IIIF SV-13 spacecraft, originally scheduled to fly on a Falcon Heavy, will now launch aboard Vulcan.

“GPS III satellites equipped with M-code technology provide the warfighter with a significantly more accurate and jam-resistant capability,” Space Systems Command said in a statement. “Adding another satellite enhances the constellation’s overall robustness.”

“For this launch, we traded a GPS III mission from a Vulcan to a Falcon 9, then exchanged a later GPS IIIF mission from a Falcon Heavy to a Vulcan,” said Col. Ryan Hiserote, commander of Space Systems Delta 80 and the National Security Space Launch program manager. “We can pivot when necessary to changing circumstances. We have a proven ability to adapt the launch manifest to complex and dynamic factors.”

Lockheed Martin said the mission “lays the foundation for the GPS IIIF era, which will deliver 60 times more anti-jam capability.”