CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. - A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket successfully launched the eighth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-8 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 1:21 p.m. EDT on October 29 from Space Launch Complex-41. GPS IIF-8 was the fourth GPS satellite launched in 2014. Boeing reported that it received signals from the satellite about three and a half hours after launch, indicating the bird is working properly.
This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter-diameter payload fairing. The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A engine.
GPS IIF-8 is the eighth in a series of next generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system using 24 satellites in six different planes. The next GPS IIF launch is expected during the first quarter of 2015. The Air Force ordered 12 in total, and four remaining satellites are stored and maintained at the Boeing Satellite Development Center in El Segundo, Calif.
ULA's next launch is the Delta IV Heavy Exploration Flight Test (EFT-1) mission of NASA's Orion spacecraft for Lockheed Martin scheduled for Dec. 4 from Space Launch Complex-37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida.
With the GPS IIF constellation nearly complete, the USAF has shifted focus to GPS III satellites. GPS III birds will be built by Lockheed Martin, and are expected to begin delivery in 205. GPS IIF satellites will continue to serve the overall network for at least the next decade.
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