Ninth GPS IIF satellite for USAF launches
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket with the ninth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite for the US Air Force (USAF) launched on 25 March.
The GPS IIF-9 satellite payload was launched on a Delta IV Medium-plus configuration evolved expendable launch vehicle.
The satellite is the ninth next-generation GPS satellite and will join the GPS system, which consists of 24 satellites in six different planes, with at least four satellites per plane orbiting at an altitude of around 11,000 miles above the surface of the Earth. The next-generation GPS IIF satellites provide greater accuracy and performance over the previous generation.
The next launch for ULA is the Atlas V AFSPC-5 mission for the USAF, scheduled for 6 May from Cape Canaveral air force station, Florida.
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