Eighth GPS IIF Set to Launch Wednesday

October 23, 2014  - By
Credit: U.S. Air Force
Artist's rendering of a Block IIF GPS satellite in orbit. (Credit: U.S. Air Force)
Navstar-2F Credit: U.S. Air Force

Credit: U.S. Air Force

The Air Force is set to launch the eighth GPS IIF satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida on October 29. The 18-minute launch window opens at 1:21 p.m. EDT.

An Atlas V 401 will launch the GPS IIF-8 mission for the U.S. Air Force.

The live webcast will begin at 1:01 p.m. EDT.

As described by the Air Force, GPS IIF-8 is one of the next-generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.

GPS IIF-8 will be United Launch Alliance’s fourth GPS launch of 2014 and the 12th of the year. The mission will mark ULA’s 89th mission launched since the company was founded in 2006.

To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch; look for the #GPSIIF8 hashtag.

The Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) indicates that IIF-8, SVN-69/PRN-03, will replace SVN-51 in the E plane slot 1. SVN-51 will be re-phased from E1 to an auxiliary node at E7 somewhere around SVN-54 currently on station at E4.  SVN-38/PRN-08 will be taken out of the operational constellation prior to SVN-69 payload initialization and sent to Launch, Anomaly Resolution and Disposal Operations (LADO).  PRN-08 will be assigned initially to SVN-49 and set to test.

SVN-38 was launched on November 5, 1997, successfully serving nearly 17 years, 9.5 years beyond its designed service life, due to the diligent efforts of the men and women of the U.S. Air Force.  SVN-51 will remain in an auxiliary node once it completes its re-phase journey. The SVN-51 re-phase will take about six months after the initial burn occurs.