The newest Global Positioning System replenishment satellite went into operation Tuesday night, five weeks after ascending to space from Cape Canaveral atop a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket.
Completing an October to remember, the third Atlas 5 rocket launch in just 29 days thundered into space Saturday, this time to replace an aging satellite in the Global Positioning System.
A replay of the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket launching the Global Positioning System 2F-11 navigation spacecraft from Cape Canaveral, Florida.
A United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral at 12:13 p.m. EDT (1613 GMT) Saturday to deploy a new Global Positioning System satellite.
The Atlas 5 rocket emerges from the Vertical Integration Facility for rollout to Complex 41 at Cape Canaveral in preparation to launch GPS 2F-11 on Friday at 12:17 p.m. EDT.
This collection of photographs shows the Air Force’s Global Positioning System 2F-11 navigation satellite being encapsulated in the United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 nose cone and hoisted atop the rocket for flight.
The penultimate satellite in the current generation of Global Positioning System spacecraft will be deployed Friday, capping a hectic four weeks with three launches from two coasts for the Atlas 5 rocket fleet.
Follow the Atlas 5 rocket’s ascent into orbit from Cape Canaveral’s Complex 41 launch pad with the U.S. Air Force’s GPS 2F-11 navigation satellite. Launch is scheduled for Friday at 12:17 p.m. EDT (1617 GMT).
Heading to space next week to replace a 12-year-old satellite in the Global Positioning System navigation network, a modernized spacecraft was placed atop its Atlas 5 launcher Wednesday.