US Air Force Launches GPS Satellite For Completing Navigation Constellation

The first United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch of 2016 is scheduled for Friday at 8:38 a.m. from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

Following on-orbit tests, GPS IIF-12 will be formally declared operational in approximately one month, making it the 50th GPS satellite Boeing will have delivered on orbit to the Air Force.

The mission was delayed two days to allow time to inspect electrical connectors on the Atlas booster.

This was the 12th and last in the latest generation of Global Positioning System satellites to join the orbit. The first stage then fell away and the single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10C engine powering the Centaur second stage ignited to continue the climb to space. The OCX program is expected to launch 32 GPS III satellites, but that’s been delayed past the expected 2017 deadline amid program troubles. The U.S. Air Force confirmed that the removal of the satellite precipitated the issues.

“Congratulations to the ULA, Boeing and Air Force teams on the successful launch of GPS IIF-12”, said Laura Maginnis, ULA vice president, Custom Services, in a statement.

Its portfolio includes GPS, military satellite communications, defense meteorological satellites, space launch and range systems, satellite control networks, space-based infrared systems and space situational awareness capabilities.

There were no strap on solid rocket motors used for this mission.

The new satellite joining the Block IIF cluster uses updated avionics software and ground systems aiming to improve reliability and decrease costs.

The Air Force’s twelfth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite is encapsulated inside an Atlas V 4-meter payload fairing.

After overnight concerns about high winds, the Atlas 5, making the first of up to 15 flights planned by ULA in 2016, thundered to life at 8:38 a.m. EST (GMT-5) and majestically climbed away from pad 41 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.