A new Global Positioning System satellite is circling Earth after blasting off Thursday night from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The spacecraft known as GPS IIF-1 successfully separated from the upper stage of a Delta IV rocket around 2:30 a.m. today, more than three hours after the 11 p.m. blastoff.
The launch was the first in the next generation of GPS satellites that will sustain and upgrade the constellation.
The Boeing Co.-built satellite joined 30 others in orbit, several of which are aging an nearing the end of their operational lives. The constellation uses a minimum of 24 satellites to provide precision location, navigation and time information for military and civilian users.
The new satellie is expected to be activated within three months after being tested on orbit 11,000 nautical miles above Earth. It will fly in the constellation's "B-2" slot, allowing another satellite to transfer to a less primary location to provide expanded coverage.
After three launch scrubs, Thursday's countdown was virtually problem-free.
The launch was a success for a $1.6 billion Block IIF program that has received criticism for cost overruns and delays. Technical problems and design changes have doubled its budget and delayed the original launch date by more than three years.
The launch was the first GPS mission to fly on a Delta IV after 20 years using the Delta II, and came as ULA and Boeing celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Delta program.
ULA's next Cape launch is targeted for July 30, a military communications satellite on an Atlas V rocket. The next GPS IIF satellite could launch on an Atlas V late this year.
IMAGE: A United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket with the Air Force's Global Positioning System IIF-1 satellite blasts off from its Launch Complex-37 launch pad at 11 p.m. EDT Thursday. Photo by Pat Corkery, ULA.
4 comments:
SO that's what the thunderous noise with wall & window vibration was from. I live no where near the cape...but heard and felt the launch 30 miles away. They should not have late night launches during a work week...the working public needs their sleep.
Congratulations to all involved!!!
This the latest example of what space travel will look like for the foreseeable future until NASA steps up and develops a new set technologies and vehicles.
Too bad for your that orbital physics don't care about your work schedule. I bet you thought those GPS satellites that you rely on everyday just magically get up there on their own ;)
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