CAPE CANAVERAL AFS, FL - The Delta 2 launch vehicle scored another sucess today with the launch of the Air Force's 56th GLobal Positioning System satellite, GPS 2R-20, continuing a 20-year tradition of reliability for the workhorse medium-lift rocket dating back to the first NAVSTAR GPS launch in 1989.
READ: GPS 2R-20 MISSION BOOK READ: LAUNCH WEATHER FORECAST READ: LAUNCH HAZARD ADVISORY READ: RESTRICTED AIRSPACE MAP VIDEO: DELTA LIFTS OFF WITH GPD 2R-20 VIDEO: OUR VIEW OF LAUNCH FROM THE PRESS SITE VIDEO: DELTA 3RD STAGE BURN AND SPACECRAFT SEP ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH THE DELTA GPS 2R-20 LAUNCH WEBCAST - PART 1 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: WATCH THE DELTA GPS 2R-20 LAUNCH WEBCAST - PART 2 ALL-ACCESS SUBSCRIBERS: OUR VIEW OF THE LAUNCH - 1200 KBPS BITRATE The 120 foot tall rocket lifted off in the predawn darkness on time at 4:34 a.m. EDT from Space Launch Complex 17-A at Cape Canaveral, lighting up the night sky for miles around with the flame from six solid rocket rocket boosters and single main engine. A minute after launch, the rocket shed the six ground-lit solid rockets and ignited the three air-lit boosters to provide another minute of additional thrust as the vehicle arced eastward over the Atlantic Ocean. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A rocket engine using refined kerosene and liquid oxygen propellants, the first stage shutdown after about 4 minutes of powered flight. At that point, the first stage separated from the rest of the rocket, leaving the second stage's hypergolic Aerojet AJ10-118K to continue the journey to space. After an initial burn, the second stage shut down. Having settled into a preliminary orbit, the vehicle entered a 50 minute coast phase before the second stage roared to life again to burn for less than a minute to raise its orbit and place the third stage and spacecraft in the proper orientation for separation. The spin-stabilized third stage, a Star-48B solid-rocket motor built by ATK, burned for 90 seconds to send GPS 2R-20 on the final leg of its trip to orbit 11,000 miles above Earth. After separation, controllers on the ground and in the Mission Directors Center waited anxiously for signal acquisition that would mark the completion of another successful Delta 2 GPS launch. "We say thanks to the booster and range teams at launch, but we don't celebrate or have our hot wash because we're not done," said Lt. Col. John Wagner, 45th LCSS commander. "We're happy at launch, but we're much happier coming off the rocket at third-stage separation - and we only celebrate after we send the first command and get a validation the signal is sent and received. That tells us the months of processing and years of building and integrating this new spacecraft have paid off. Only then do we know that this critical mission passed major risk hurdles and is headed for many years of successful operation." "Congratulations to the Air Force and all of our mission partners on today’s successful GPS satellite launch," said Jim Sponnick, vice president, Delta Product Line. "One third of the 140 successful Delta II launches have been dedicated to GPS satellites. The ULA Delta team is extremely proud of the role we’ve played in launching this incredible satellite constellation. During the past two decades, GPS has changed how people navigate around their neighborhoods and around the globe. GPS has also greatly improved military operations as well as numerous maritime, aircraft, and business operations worldwide." Eventually, GPS 2R-20 will settle into the Plane B, Slot 2 location of the GPS constellation now occupied by GPS 2A-27. The older spaceraft, launched in September 1996, will be relocated to serve as an on-orbit spare. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S. space-based radionavigation system managed by the Air Force 50th Space Wing that provides reliable positioning, navigation, and timing services to civilian users on a continuous worldwide basis - freely available to all. For anyone with a GPS receiver, the system will provide location and time. GPS provides accurate location and time information for an unlimited number of people in all weather, day and night, anywhere in the world. The GPS is made up of three parts: satellites orbiting the Earth; control and monitoring stations on Earth; and the GPS receivers owned by users. GPS satellites broadcast signals from space that are picked up and identified by GPS receivers. Each GPS receiver then provides three-dimensional location (latitude, longitude, and altitude) plus the time. The Global Positioning System satellite constellation consists of 24 active spacecraft and several on-orbit spares flying in six different orbital planes approximately 11,000 miles high. Each satellite makes a complete orbit around the planet in approximately 12 hours. The orbital altitude is such that the satellites repeat the same track and configuration over any point approximately each 24 hours (4 minutes earlier each day). There are six orbital planes with four spacecraft in each, equally spaced 60 degrees apart. The orbits are inclined at about fifty-five degrees with respect to the equatorial plane. This constellation provides the user with between five and eight satellites visible from any point on the earth. The GPS system is managed by the Air Force 50th Space Wing. The 20th GPS satellite manufactured by Lockheed Martin, GPS 2R-20 is the seventh member of a family of eight upgraded Global Positioning System spacecraft the offer more signals, improved accuracy and increased tolerance to interference and electronic attack. Accuracy for civilian users is enhanced by improvements that eliminate errors caused by the Earth's ionosphere. This satellite also carries a unique payload designed to test a new signal that will be used by the aviation industry, dubbed L5. The payload consists of two electronics boxes that were installed in the GPS satellite's auxiliary payload housing, adding a modest 40 pounds to the overall spacecraft weight. Future GPS spacecraft will broadcast the new L5 signal when they are placed in service beginning later this year. The 2F series of satellites are being built by Boeing and will be launched on the Delta IV and Atlas 5 EELV rockets, marking a transition away from the Delta 2 that has, so far, launched every one of the previous GPS satellites. (Space Media Corporation / SpaceflightNews.net)
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