Successful GPS launch

News & Press: Space

06 November 2020 (0 Comments)

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SpaceX has launched the fourth GPS III from Cape Canaveral.

GPS III-SV04 was launched at 2324 UTC (1824 local) on 5 November. The launch had been attempted on 2 October, but a technical problem with the launch vehicle caused an abort with just 2 seconds to go.

Nine minutes after launch, the Falcon 9 rocket's first stage landed back on one of SpaceX's 2 drone ships; it will be used for further launches. The 2nd stage shut down and separated after ~1h 29m. A short burst from the 3rd stage then placed the satellite into an elliptical orbit for it to position itself in its circular orbit at 12,550 miles (22,200 km), inclined at 55º. III-04 will become SVN-77/PRN-14, replacing SVN-44/PRN-28 in the B plane at slot 03.

SV05 is complete and scheduled for launch early in 2021. Lockheed Martin have a further 5 satellites in test or build and are contracted to build a further 22 follow-on GPS IIIF spacecraft.

GPS III satellites have a planned life of 15 years and are designed to be forward- and backward-compatible, allowing them to fully adapt to the future whilst remaining fully usable with previous generations of spacecraft. They also transmit the L1C, L2C and L5 signals and are claimed to be 3-times more accurate than their predecessors, with 8-times improved anti-jam capability.

Details from Spaceflight Now

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