Build Your Own GPS IIF Satellite — with LEGOs
February 22, 2013
So, you thought GPS satellites were only built by government contractors with millions of dollars? Think again. A […]
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So, you thought GPS satellites were only built by government contractors with millions of dollars? Think again. A […]
Lift-off is set for 8:10 a.m. EDT (1210 GMT) Thursday for a GPS IIF satellite, reports Spaceflight Now. […]
Next GPS IIF in October The next GPS satellite, Block IIF-3 (SVN65), scheduled to be launched on October […]
Spaceflight Now is reporting that the next GPS satellite, Block IIF-3 (SVN65) to be launched on October 4, 2012, will be positioned in orbital slot 1, which is in plane A. This slot is currently occupied by a Block IIA satellite, SVN39, operating as PRN09. SVN39 is one of the oldest operating satellites in the GPS fleet, having been launched on June 26, 1993.
On July 9, Boeing shipped the third of 12 GPS IIF satellites for the U.S. Air Force from the company’s Satellite Development Center in El Segundo to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, aboard a Boeing-built C-17 Globemaster III airlifter. SVN-65 is scheduled to be launched in the fourth quarter of this year aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket. It will join the first and second Boeing-built GPS IIF satellites, launched May 27, 2010, and July 16, 2011, to continue the sustainment and modernization of the GPS network.
A small variance in the L5 signal, which remains well within signal specifications and will not affect pseudorange measurements, may show some impact on triple-frequency combinations of the signal’s carrier phase in high-precision applications. Observations suggest a temperature-dependent line bias in one or more carriers as a likely cause of the observed variation in the tri-carrier combination of L1, L2, and L5.
Researchers at the German Aerospace Center say they have found a small variance in the L5 signal on IIF-1. The signal variation results in no more than a 5-centimeter error with a predictable periodicity of about six hours. The GPS Wing is studying the issue and expects to resolve it before setting the satellite healthy, in another month or so according to the schedule.
At press time, GPS spacecraft IIF-1 was set to be launched May 27 from Cape Canaveral Air […]
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