CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- History repeated itself in fine fashion today with the successful launch of an Air Force Delta 2 rocket carrying a military navigation satellite into Earth orbit.
A Boeing Delta 2 lifts off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on Nov. 10, 2000 carrying a replacement Navstar GPS satellite into Earth orbit.
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Liftoff of the Boeing-built booster from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station came precisely at 12:14:02.219 p.m. EST (17:14 GMT) and 25 minutes later the Lockheed Martin-built Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite arrived in its proper orbit and separated from the rocket.
The Navstar GPS satellites send out a signal that is received by military and civilian users around the world to help them keep track of where they are on the planet, what direction they are moving and how fast they are going.
Today's mission marked the 33rd time this combination of rocket and cargo was sent into space from the Cape. The first launch was on Feb. 14, 1989.
"Today's successful launch is a part of a 26-year Boeing association with the GPS program," said Will Hampton, Boeing's director of Air Force Delta programs. "Delta 2 launch vehicles placed the original 24 operational satellites and all replacements for the GPS constellation into orbit for the U.S. Air Force."Boeing has been involved in the Air Forces GPS program since 1974, when the company won contracts to build developmental satellites and receiver sets. Then in 1987 the company won the contract to launch the satellites, which resulted in the design and introduction of the Delta 2 rocket.
GPS: The Next Generation
On Thursday officials from the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base awarded Boeing and Lockheed Martin each with $16 million fixed-price contracts to figure out how the GPS program will evolve to include some specific new features for civilians, as well as reduce operational costs.
"These contracts represent the first significant step in providing the next generation of navigation and timing system performance for the U.S. warfighter and civil users throughout the world," Air Force Col. Douglas Loverro, GPS Joint Program Office director, said in a prepared statement.
Known as the System Architecture and Requirements Definition contract, the study is to last 12 months and is the first step in a long process that will lead to launching a new constellation of satellites beginning around 2009, according to Air Force officials.
Meanwhile, the next launch of a Delta 2 rocket is scheduled for November 18 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. The NASA mission will feature the launch of Earth Orbiter 1, a technology demonstration spacecraft that will test new ways of taking pictures of the Earth for use in managing land resources.
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