WASHINGTON - The U.S. Space Force has decided that being slightly less lost is worth $514 million, awarding Lockheed Martin a contract to build two additional GPS 3F satellites.

GPS 3F is the military's next-generation navigation constellation, designed to shrug off jamming and other electronic threats like a seasoned commuter ignores traffic. Lockheed Martin announced June 15 that the award covers GPS 3F satellites 23 and 24, bringing the total number of GPS 3F spacecraft under contract to a robust 14.

These satellites are the latest in the Global Positioning System lineup, providing positioning, navigation, and timing services that the U.S. military, civilian infrastructure, and commercial users worldwide have come to rely on - often without a second thought until they're lost in a parking lot.

The award lands less than a year after the Space Force ordered GPS 3F satellites 21 and 22 for $509.7 million. Both procurements were made under a 2018 contract that allows the Space Force to buy up to 22 satellites. With this latest order, the Space Force has exercised options for 14 spacecraft, pushing the contract's total value to approximately $4.6 billion - a sum that could buy a small country, or at least a very nice fleet of self-driving cars.

The purchase follows the completion of the GPS 3 production run. In April, SpaceX launched the 10th and final GPS 3 satellite, marking the end of that modernization phase. The next GPS launch is expected to be the first GPS 3F series, because why stop when you're on a roll?

Lockheed Martin builds these satellites at its Denver, Colorado facility, presumably with a view of the Rockies and a sense of purpose.

GPS 3F introduces upgrades over GPS 3, including a nifty feature called Regional Military Protection. This allows satellites to concentrate the power of their encrypted military signal over specific geographic areas, essentially giving jammers the cosmic equivalent of a well-aimed eye roll. The capability aims to improve resistance to jamming and electronic interference in contested environments.

Like their predecessors, GPS 3F vehicles will broadcast the military's encrypted M-Code signal, designed to provide more secure positioning, navigation, and timing for military users than civilian GPS signals. Because apparently, the military wants to know where it is without sharing that information with the world.

The new satellites also sport a fully digital navigation payload and will transmit the civilian L1C and L5 signals with improved accuracy and reliability, according to Lockheed Martin. So civilians can enjoy better directions to the nearest coffee shop.

The GPS modernization effort comes as military planners increasingly fret about disruptions to navigation and timing services. Jamming and spoofing of satellite signals have become more common in recent conflicts, prompting the Pentagon to upgrade GPS and invest in complementary positioning, navigation, and timing technologies. Because when your enemies can mess with your GPS, you need backups for your backups.