LIVE: Delta II GPS launch at 8:23 a.m.

Within two weeks of today's 8:23 a.m. launch, the most advanced Global Satellite Positioning satellite will be operational, giving improved signals to military and civilian GPS units, which likely number in the millions.

Advanced bulldozers have GPS units on each side of the blade to direct grading. Many cars now have GPS maps, and hunters and boaters use them for navigaton. The military uses GPS for navigation and to direct missiles and weapons.

"You can get (the accuracy) down to a centimeter, said David Podlesney, GPS program director for Lockeed Martin, which built the satellite. "The applications are increasing exponentially."

After launching from Complex 17A on a Delta 2 rocket with nine strap-on solid rocket boosters, the satellite, built for the U.S. Air Force, will enter an orbit 11,000 miles above the earth.

The GPS IIR-17 will be the 77th consecutive Delta 2 rocket to deliver its payload. At least 25 Delta 2 rockets remain to fly during the next few years.


FACTS ABOUT GPS IIR-17:

Rocket: Delta 2
Spacecraft weight: 4,540 pounds
Solid rockets boosters: nine
Spacecraft separation: 68 minutes after liftoff
Launch window: 8:23 to 8:38 a.m.
Next GPS launch: Dec. 20 from Pad 17, the Delta II-GPS IIR-18.


See details in the mission booklet.

GPS flight profile. Click to enlarge.