The Air Force yesterday successfully launched its fourth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite (GPS IIF-4) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla.
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| ULA’s Atlas V rocket lifted GPS IIF-4 into space. Photo: ULA. |
The satellite lifted off on one of
United Launch Alliance’s (ULA) Atlas V launch vehicles at 5:37 p.m. EST. The satellite, designated as Space Vehicle Number (SVN) 66, is the fourth of 12 GPS IIF satellites that prime contractor Boeing [BA] has on contract with the Air Force.
“This is just the beginning of the modernization plan to improve operations, sustainment and overall GPS service for military and civil users around the globe,” Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center’s (AFSMC) GPS Directorate Director Col. Bernie Gruber said Tuesday in a statement before launch.
The new capabilities of the GPS IIF satellites will provide greater navigational accuracy through improvements in atomic clock technology; an increased design life of 12 years for long-term service and a new third civil signal (L5) to provide a more-robust signal for commercial aviation and safety-of-life applications. The second civil signal (L2C) is available for dual-frequency equipment.
The last time the Air Force launched a GPS IIF satellite in October, liftoff was successful but experienced an anomaly with an upper stage engine on the Delta IV RL-10B-2 rocket. The Air Force, despite the continuing investigation, cleared yesterday’s launch and the May 22 launch of the fifth Wideband Global Satcom (WGS) satellite (WGS-5) to proceed (Defense Daily, May 13).
ULA is a joint venture between Boeing and Lockheed Martin [LMT].