A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off Jan. 27, 2026 at 11:53 p.m. Eastern from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40), Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Florida. The vehicle deployed a Lockheed Martin-built Global Positioning System (GPS) III SV09 satellite to medium Earth orbit. Credit: SpaceX

With the final GPS III satellite scheduled to launch in March, the United States is completing the most significant upgrade to its positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) infrastructure in more than a decade. 

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Sean Gorman is the CEO and co-founder of Zephr.xyz, a developer of next-gen location-based solutions. Gorman has a more than 20-year background as a researcher, entrepreneur, academic and subject matter expert in the field of geospatial data science and...