SpaceX launches advanced GPS satellite for US Space Force (video, photos)
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Credit: SpaceX
SpaceX launched an advanced, jamming-resistant GPS satellite for the US Space Force from Florida on Tuesday evening (January 27).
A Falcon 9 rocket carrying the GPS III-SV09 spacecraft lifted off from Cape Canaveral Space Station Tuesday at 11:53 p.m. EST (0453 GMT on January 28). SpaceX and the Space Force were aiming for Monday evening (January 26), but bad weather pushed things back a day.
THE GPS The III satellites are built by aerospace giant Lockheed Martin and feature “M-Code” technology, which makes them more resistant to jamming than their predecessors, according to Space Force civil servants.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launches the GPS III-SV09 satellite for the US Space Force from Florida on January 27, 2026. | Credit: SpaceX
The first GPS III vehicle took off in December 2018. As its name suggests, GPS III-SV09 was the ninth, out of a planned total of 10, to reach orbit. The last in the series is expected to be released later this year.
The GPS III-SV09 was initially reserved for flying on Vulcan Centaurthe powerful new rocket from United Launch Alliance. But the Space Force changed that plan.
“For this launch, we swapped a GPS III mission from a Vulcan for a Falcon 9, then swapped a subsequent GPS IIIF mission from a Heavy Falcon to a Vulcan,” U.S. Space Force Col. Ryan Hiserote, SYD 80 commander and national security space launch program manager, said in an emailed statement Jan. 22.
The upper stage of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket deploys the US Space Force’s GPS III-SV09 satellite into medium Earth orbit on January 27, 2026. | Credit: SpaceX
“Our commitment to keeping things flexible – programmatically and contractually – means we can adapt as necessary to changing circumstances,” he added. “We have proven our ability to adapt the launch manifest to complex and dynamic factors and we continue to shorten our timelines to deliver critical capabilities to the warfighter.”
By the way, GPS IIIF is the next iteration of satellites that the United States will use for positioning, navigation and timing. (The “F” stands for “tracking.”) The first of these spacecraft is expected to launch in spring 2027.
GPS III-SV09 was SpaceX’s fastest turnaround time ever for a national security mission, depending on the company; the satellite was integrated and launched in just 41 days.
Official NASA portrait of astronaut Ellison Onizuka (1946-1986). | Credit: NASA
The Space Force named GPS III-SV09 in honor of former U.S. Air Force Col. Ellison Onizuka, one of seven NASA astronauts who died during the operation. space shuttle Challenger accident occurred on January 28, 1986.
Other former astronauts were also honored. For example, the GPS III-SV05 owes its name to Apollo 11 moon walker Neil Armstrong, and GPS III-SV07 bears the nickname “Sally Ride“, after the first American woman to reach space.
Tuesday’s flight was the fifth of the Falcon 9’s first stage. It returned to Earth as planned about 8.5 minutes after launch, landing vertically on the ground. EspaceX Drone ship “A Shortfall of Gravitas” in the Atlantic Ocean.
Meanwhile, the Falcon 9 upper stage deployed “Ellison Onizuka” into orbit on schedule, releasing it to an altitude of 2,650 miles (4,265 kilometers) about 90 minutes after liftoff.
Editor’s note: This story was updated at 1 p.m. ET on January 26 with the new target launch date of January 27. It was updated again at 2:15 a.m. ET on January 28 with news of the launch, rocket landing, and payload deployment.
