The United Launch Alliance (ULA) has successfully launched a U.S. Air Force's seventh Block IIF-7 Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite on top of an Atlas V rocket.
The rocket was successfully launched on Friday, August 1 at 11:23 pm from the Space Launch Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The GPS satellite will benefit military and civilians.
GPS is getting important for civilians as it assists them to get driving instructions on their cars. It is also very important for the military as it can guide troops and weapons accurately from one part of the globe to another. The latest GPS satellite launch will offer seamless signals and will provide even accurate information.
Col. Bill Cooley, director of the Global Positioning System Directorate says that the latest satellite is the most robust, as well as most capable in the GPS history. The satellite is designed in a way to last 12 years and will be positioned just over 11,000 miles over the Earth at an inclination of 55 degrees.
This is not the first time that ULA has successfully launched a military GPS satellite and the agency also took the opportunity to appreciate the efforts of the team involved with the launch of the satellite.
"Once again, the Sharks of the 45th Space Wing proudly tip their collective hats to United Launch Alliance, Boeing, the Space and Missile Systems Center, GPS Directorate, and all our other mission partners who made this launch successful," says Brig. Gen. Nina Armagno, 45th Space Wing commander, who also served as the Launch Decision Authority. "We have a remarkably talented and diverse team here on the Space Coast, and I could not be more proud of their efforts today, and every day,"
This is the second launch of satellite from Cape Canaveral just with a week. On Monday, July 28, a couple of more satellites launched atop of the Delta IV rocket.
The latest launch was ULA's ninth successful launch in 2014. Till now the agency has made 86 successful launches since its formation in Dec. 2006. Atlas V debuted in 2002 and since then it has launched 47 spacecrafts on it. The next GPS satellite launch is expected to be on October 29 atop Atlas V. The remaining IIF series are scheduled to take off by 2016.
