SpaceX launches U.S. Space Force ‘rapid response’ GPS mission

WASHINGTON — In a mission veiled in secrecy, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Dec. 16 at 7:52 p.m. Eastern from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida, sending a military Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite to a medium orbit about 12,000 miles above Earth. 

Named Rapid Response Trailblazer-1 (RRT-1), this mission was a U.S. national security space launch and was also intended to demonstrate military capabilities to condense a typical two-year mission planning cycle to less than six months.

RRT-1 was originally scheduled to lift off Dec. 13 but the launch was scrubbed due to high winds. This was SpaceX’s 126th launch of 2024. 

About eight minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 first-stage booster returned and landed on a drone ship. SpaceX ended the livestream after the booster landing. 

Switch from Vulcan to Falcon 9

The payload, GPS III SV-07, is the seventh satellite of the GPS III constellation, built by Lockheed Martin. The satellite had been previously slated for a late 2025 launch aboard a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Vulcan rocket but was reassigned to a SpaceX Falcon 9 this summer. 

“We decided to pull SV-07 out of storage and try to get it to the launch pad as quickly as possible,” Col. James Horne, senior materiel leader for launch execution at the U.S. Space Force’s Space Systems Command, told SpaceNews. “It’s our way of demonstrating that we can be responsive to operator needs with NSSL-class missions.”

NSSL is the National Security Space Launch program that launches high-value military and intelligence satellites.

In a departure from most other NSSL missions, the Space Force and SpaceX maintained a low profile around launch preparations, with SpaceX only announcing the RRT-1 launch on Dec. 13 without disclosing its status as a GPS and national security space mission.

The decision to accelerate the launch of SV-07 was made in mid-2024 when uncertainty around the Vulcan rocket’s readiness led Space Force leaders to reassess their options. Horne emphasized that this move was less about Vulcan delays and more about testing the boundaries of the NSSL program’s flexibility. “This is a way for us to demonstrate to adversaries that we can be responsive,” he said.

ULA’s Vulcan rocket is still awaiting official certification to launch NSSL missions. The vehicle was originally assigned three GPS III launches — SV-07, SV-08 and SV-09 — and SpaceX got SV-10. 

Horne said the satellites have been remanifested. Because SV-07 was reassigned to SpaceX, ULA will get to launch SV-10.

Walt Lauderdale, chief of Falcon systems and operations at the Space Systems Command, said SpaceX’s familiarity with the GPS III program was instrumental in pulling off this mission on a short timeline. The company had previously launched five GPS III satellites.

“Our typical launch campaign is a 24-month cycle,” said Lauderdale. 

Horne stressed that the goal of the RRT-1 mission was far more than just launching a GPS. It’s also about the Space Force learning how to be more adaptive. “That’s why we’re calling it a trailblazer mission,” he said. “We’re trying to send a message to an adversary that if a GPS asset were targeted, the United States would be able to get another one up quickly.”

The Space Force has previously launched “tactically responsive” space missions using small satellites and small launch vehicles. The RRT-1 mission was intended to prove that the rapid deployment approach can be applied to larger, more complex national security payloads like GPS.

Col. Andrew Menschner, commander of the Space Force’s Mission Delta 31, highlighted another critical objective of RRT-1: testing the ability to respond quickly to an unexpected technical failure in the GPS constellation. While the current 31 active satellites are in good health, many are older than the military service members who manage them daily.

Mission Delta 31, based in Colorado, operates the GPS constellation.

“We are absolutely interested in every opportunity to update the constellation,” Menschner said. “Putting up a new satellite helps add resiliency to the system.” 

Being able to pull off a GPS launch as quickly as was done with SV-07, he said, “is good news for the world that relies on GPS every day.”

SV-07 had been sitting at a Lockheed Martin warehouse in Colorado since being declared launch-ready in August 2021. 

In preparation for RRT-1, Mission Delta 31 and Lockheed Martin worked to modify SV-07’s payload interface so it could launch on a Falcon 9 instead of a Vulcan rocket. This interface, called payload launch adapter, connects the spacecraft to the rocket.

Once completed, the satellite was transported on a flatbed truck from Lockheed Martin’s location in Colorado to SpaceX’s integration facility at Cape Canaveral. Normally, military aircraft would handle such transfers, but Hurricane Helene recovery efforts had tied up those resources.

“That was probably one of the biggest obstacles,” said Malik Musawwir, vice president of navigation systems at Lockheed Martin Space. “And then from there, it was off to the races.”

The satellite’s journey from Littleton, Colorado, to Cape Canaveral posed unique logistical challenges, Musawwir said. With C-17 military cargo aircraft unavailable, planners conducted a ground survey to find the best route for transporting the satellite over highways. The multi-day drive required specialized equipment, including a climate-controlled container to protect the satellite from temperature and humidity changes, and shock absorbers to minimize vibrations.

“Our teams worked tirelessly to ensure the satellite’s safety during transit,” Musawwir said. The container carrying SV-07 traveled on a truck in a caravan with a military escort and a backup vehicle in case of any issues.

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