Depicting the Nexus satellites in the Earth-orbiting constellation.
Astranis
Nearly 50 years ago, the U.S. Air Force began deploying the Global Positioning System (commonly known as GPS), and the satellites have become vital military and economic infrastructure.
Since then, GPS has generated more than $1.4 trillion in economic benefits, according to a U.S. Department of Commerce study. But the agency warned that “an outage could have an economic impact of $1 billion per day.”
Pentagon leaders considered these losses conservative estimates, so the Space Force launched a roughly $2 billion satellite program called the Resilient Global Positioning System. The program, known simply as R-GPS, aims to provide an alternative backup network to current satellite systems.
“(GPS) is critical to everything we do every day, from the stock market, to timing every transaction, to the crops we grow,” said Lt. Col. Justin Deifel, director of Space R-GPS. Force Space Systems Command told CNBC.
“It’s just like water and electricity…it’s a utility for the economy and it’s a utility for the warfighter and we need to make sure it’s available,” Deifer added.
The importance of the 31 existing GPS satellites in orbit, and the potential threats in space from U.S. adversaries such as Russia and China, have prompted the Pentagon to prioritize building alternative R-GPS networks, and the Space Force has turned to the commercial space industry to do so.
Last month, the department awarded R-GPS design concept contracts to four companies: Astranis, Axient, L3 Harris and Serra Space.
Astranis expands its business
Rendering of the Nexus satellite being assembled.
Astranis
For startup Astranis, which launched its first “MicroGEO” spacecraft last year, the R-GPS program marks the company’s expansion from satellite internet into the positioning, navigation and timing (PNT) services market.
“We’ve started to see a big push from the U.S. national security community toward high-orbit proliferation,” Astranis CEO John Gedmark told CNBC. “Now the Department of Defense has recognized that we can do that with a next-generation small satellite approach. All the wonderful things done in high orbit.”
As the company continues to expand, Atranis has announced the launch of its new Nexus product line of PNT satellites, a response to the R-GPS program. Gedmark noted that they are using the same type of spacecraft as the company’s broadband satellites.
Rendering of the Nexus satellite in orbit over the United States
Astranis
Additionally, because the R-GPS satellites will operate in medium Earth orbit, like the current GPS constellation, the Nexus product line marks an expansion of the scope in which Astranis plans to deploy and operate its spacecraft.
The company, which has raised $750 million since its founding in 2015, has announced the acquisition of 12 internet satellites, 10 of which are expected to be launched into geostationary orbit by the end of next year.
“We knew early on that the platform we developed could be used for other tasks beyond broadband telecommunications, and the Resilient GPS program just emerged as a perfect example of that,” Gedmark said.
Gedmark sees R-GPS as “a multibillion-dollar opportunity,” given that the Space Force hopes to build a full constellation of at least two dozen satellites.
R-GPS Project
The Space Force is using a new Pentagon funding agency called Quick Start to launch the R-GPS program.
In less than six months, the program received approval from the undersecretary of defense, market studies were conducted, companies were hosted for industry days, bids were solicited and initial contracts were awarded — a milestone for the space program, the military noted. , a process that typically takes up to three years.
“The speed with which they executed this plan was unprecedented… We have never seen the Department of Defense move so quickly before,” Gedemark said.
A rendering of the Nexus satellite in orbit.
Astranis
R-GPS has allocated a total of $40 million to fund design studies. The companies will have an eight-month “phase zero” period to begin work, which will end in the spring, SSC’s Deifel explained.
“When you consider the recurring engineering costs, the current total budget is: We’re looking at $50 (million) to $80 million per satellite and procuring 24 more satellites. So, a quick calculation, purchasing 24 satellites would require $12 (billion) to $1.9 billion for satellites over the next five to six years,” Deifer said.
While the budget does not currently include “non-recurring engineering costs,” Deifer said he expects them to be significantly less than the design costs.
Space Systems Command hopes to purchase and deploy eight R-GPS satellites in batches, with the first batch of satellites scheduled to be launched as early as 2028.
As design review concludes, SSC plans to select one or more companies to advance the project into the construction phase.
And Astranis’s The first satellite fails The company’s experience operating in distant geosynchronous orbit has given Gedmark confidence in its chances in the R-GPS project after third-party issues with its solar panels surfaced last year.
“We are the only company to have demonstrated such a spacecraft in orbit – a low-cost, radiation-hardened, high-orbit satellite,” Gedmark said.
