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#140
by
Chris Bergin
on 17 May, 2014 03:54
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Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. (May 16, 2014) – A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket successfully launched the sixth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-6 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 8:03 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-37. This is ULA’s fifth launch in 2014, and the 82nd successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006. GPS IIF-6 is the sixth in a series of next generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth’s surface. The GPS IIF series provides improved accuracy and enhanced performance for GPS users.
Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance <---doesn't say who.
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#141
by
edkyle99
on 17 May, 2014 04:19
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Delta 4 Medium is now 19 for 19 in its 12 years of service, with only the 2012 close call due to the RL-10 leak/low-thrust nearly marring its record.
- Ed kyle
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#142
by
siweifdu
on 17 May, 2014 04:43
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Excuse me. I am puzzled by the slot that the GPS satellites are launched into. For example, for the IIF-5 satellite, people said it is going to replace the satellite in slot A3. However, it is launched into slot A6 according to the list on wikipedia. Is the new satellite going to finish test in slot A6 and then move to slot A3 after the retirement of the old one, or it is going to remain in A6, or A6 is going to be renamed A3?
The same situation seems to be here for IIF-6 satellite, it is said to replace the satellite in D4 slot while no notice is given in the GPS status notice. The only vacant slot in plane D is D6. Will the satellite enter D6 after launch just like IIF-5 entered A6 in Feb?
Thanks for the help~
Edit to redo my confusing explanation... I hope this will make sense.
The constellation performance standards require just 27 healthy satellites in 27 individual orbits.
But the GPS constellation has managed to keep 30 or 31 healthy satellites at pretty much all times for the last decade or so. Until OCX is operational, there is a 31 satellite limit on the GPS almanac (and a 32 PRN code limit as well).
This enabled the GPS operators to use a pair of IIAs or a IIA+IIR in lieu of a newer satellite for some of the orbital spots.
Right now there is one spot with a three GPS birds (PRN3+PRN19+PRN27) doing the job of two birds, and a spot with 4 GPS birds (PRN7+PRN8+PRN9-about to be shutdown+PRN30-in testing) doing the job of two birds
When a new satellite is launched, it undergoes a testing period, for which it's not operational, but requires a spot in the almanac, so instead of shutting down the older satellite that will be replaced, they keep the old running and the new in testing, then keep both running when testing is complete and only shutdown the old one when they need to free up PRNs for another launch.
I invite you to take a look at a visualization of the GPS constellation status from the WAAS status site:
http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/incoming/waas_sats.png - updates every 2 minutes or so
Or the last full 24 hour animation (I think 6AM to 6AM EST):
http://www.nstb.tc.faa.gov/incoming/SV_WaasStatus.avi
The scarce resource when managing the current GPS constellation is almanac can only broadcast 31 satellites. Right now there are 30 healthy sats on the almanac + PRN30 (IIF-5) unhealthy, with PRN9 about to be shutdown to allow PRN6 to take its place in the GPS almanac.
So by the time the next GPS satellite launches, I expect SVN33/PRN3 to be shutdown to free up almanac space, and PRN9 to be assigned for IIF-7.
Fantanstic! Thanks a lot!
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#143
by
jacqmans
on 17 May, 2014 04:51
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Here one photo of the launch I took tonight. Much more to come in L2 later
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#144
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 17 May, 2014 05:51
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#145
by
hpras
on 17 May, 2014 06:04
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What are all the pieces that come flying off at about 4:10 in this clip?
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#146
by
input~2
on 17 May, 2014 06:28
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First object catalogued by USSTRATCOM
2014-026A/39741 in 20,444 x 20,474 km x 55.0° (epoch: May 17, 0503UTC)
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#147
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 17 May, 2014 08:04
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#148
by
Antares
on 17 May, 2014 14:48
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I didn't expect to be able to see the main engine for so long, almost 5 minutes!
That would've been all the way to MECO.
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#149
by
edkyle99
on 17 May, 2014 15:38
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What are all the pieces that come flying off at about 4:10 in this clip?
My guess would be RS-68 ablative, but insulation or ice are other possibilities.
- Ed Kyle
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#150
by
Rocket Science
on 17 May, 2014 15:44
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Congrats ULA, well done!
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#151
by
beidou
on 17 May, 2014 16:04
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6th Boeing GPS IIF Spacecraft Reaches Orbit, Sends 1st Signals
EL SEGUNDO, Calif., May 16, 2014 – The latest Boeing [NYSE: BA] Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite sent initial signals from space shortly after launch May 16, marking the second GPS IIF launch this year and the halfway point of the 12 launches ordered by the U.S. Air Force to sustain and modernize the GPS constellation.
"Boeing has continued to maintain a robust tempo of deliveries to meet U.S. Air Force requirements, with the next GPS IIF already on deck in Florida for a third-quarter liftoff," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager of Space and Intelligence Systems. "As a prime contractor on the GPS program since the first launch in 1978, our experience with these complex and critically important spacecraft spans nearly 40 years and now covers 44 satellites delivered into orbit with continuing mission support."
The latest GPS IIF was launched at 8:03 p.m. Eastern Time from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket. A bit more than three hours later, Boeing controllers in El Segundo confirmed the spacecraft was sending nominal signals from its orbit approximately 11,000 nautical miles above Earth.
The satellite will undergo activation and systems checkout before handover to the Air Force as part of the GPS constellation.
The Boeing GPS IIF satellite, the fourth generation of Boeing GPS space vehicles, is providing the most precise navigation clocks to date, along with improved accuracy, greater security and anti-jam capabilities.
http://boeing.mediaroom.com/6th-Boeing-GPS-IIF-Spacecraft-Reaches-Orbit-Sends-1st-Signals
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#152
by
Prober
on 17 May, 2014 18:39
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What are all the pieces that come flying off at about 4:10 in this clip?
My guess would be RS-68 ablative, but insulation or ice are other possibilities.
- Ed Kyle
Ed is that the same 2nd stage on the Delta IV as the Delta III design?
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#153
by
edkyle99
on 17 May, 2014 18:44
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Ed is that the same 2nd stage on the Delta IV as the Delta III design?
Same diameter, same engine, same avionics I think, but slightly longer tanks that hold about 3.6 tonnes more propellant than the original Delta 3 stage.
The stage owes its diameter in part to Japan's H-2, since Mitsubishi builds the LH2 tank for both rockets.
- Ed Kyle
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#154
by
catdlr
on 17 May, 2014 21:24
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Other people's stuff:
A GoPro Hero 2 Up Close Launch Pad Video Of Delta IV / GPS IIF-6
Published on May 17, 2014
Matthew Travis
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket successfully launched the sixth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-6 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 8:03 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-37. This is ULA's fifth launch in 2014, and the 82nd successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006. GPS IIF-6 is the sixth in a series of next generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth's surface. The GPS IIF series provides improved accuracy and enhanced performance for GPS users.
This video clip was captured by my GoPro Hero 2 camera placed at the Delta IV rocket's launch pad. It was set up a few hundred feet from the rocket and a timer started recording a couple minutes before launch.
Notice the fires in the grass created by the rocket's flame. After launch, the exhaust trail from the rocket drifts into view high in the sky above Cape Canaveral.
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#155
by
catdlr
on 18 May, 2014 05:11
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ULA Delta IV Rocket Blasts Off With GPS IIF6 Satellite
Published on May 17, 2014
Matthew Travis
A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket successfully launched the sixth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF-6 satellite for the U.S. Air Force at 8:03 p.m. EDT today from Space Launch Complex-37. This is ULA's fifth launch in 2014, and the 82nd successful launch since the company was formed in December 2006. GPS IIF-6 is the sixth in a series of next generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth's surface. The GPS IIF series provides improved accuracy and enhanced performance for GPS users.
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#156
by
Star One
on 19 May, 2014 11:58
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Signaling a new chapter in the long-sought modernization of the U.S. Air Force's launch ranges, Friday night's flight of a Delta 4 rocket was tracked via satellite instead of by radar in a move officials say is a money-saving upgrade to the military's aging range infrastructure.
The next improvement under study by the Air Force is the introduction of autonomous on-board flight safety systems, which would replace today's man-in-the-loop range safety paradigm. Instead of requiring an engineer to send a manual destruct command to an errant rocket from the ground, a computer on-board the launcher would do the job by itself.
An autonomous flight termination system flew on an Air Force Minotaur rocket launch from Virginia in November in the first of what officials then said would be several test flights needed to certify the technology.
Ultimately, simplified space-based ranges could eliminate the need for ground infrastructure, allowing launch ranges to exist virtually anywhere in the world, officials said.
"The idea behind space-based range is you literally take all that range infrastructure, which is time-consuming and costly, try to streamline it and put it on the rocket," a former Air Force space official said.
http://spaceflightnow.com/delta/d366/140518tracking/#.U3nxcom9LCQ
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#157
by
jacqmans
on 19 May, 2014 14:45
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May 19, 2014 (9:15am EDT)
ATK Technologies Bring Improved Capabilities to GPS Users
ULA Delta IV Rocket Successfully Launches GPS Satellite for U.S. Air Force
ARLINGTON, Va., May 19, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Multiple ATK (NYSE: ATK) technologies played an integral role in Friday's successful launch of a United Launch Alliance (ULA) Delta IV rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, and the on-orbit operation of a new Boeing GPS IIF satellite. The satellite will provide improved accuracy, signal strength and quality to America's warfighters, allies and civil users worldwide.
ATK's contributions to the Delta IV and GPS IIF include cutting-edge technologies from across the company. In addition to the state-of-the art solar arrays and other critical components on the GPS IIF satellite, contributions include the two Graphite Epoxy Motors (GEM-60), large composite structures and the main engine nozzle.
"The Delta IV and GPS programs highlight the breadth of ATK's innovative technologies," said Blake Larson, president of ATK's Aerospace Group. "Our team's dedication and execution excellence help deliver increased capability to GPS users around the world."
ULA's Delta family of launch vehicles has been lifting high-priority government and commercial payloads to orbit for more than 50 years.
The Delta IV medium-plus rocket flew in configuration featuring two ATK commercial GEM-60 solid rocket motors produced in Magna, Utah. These motors boast a flawless record and are the 39th and 40th GEM-60s to fly. Their 90 seconds of flight time and 560,000 pounds of thrust provided boosted the 366th Delta vehicle into the sky.
The nozzle for the launch vehicle's RS-68 engine was designed and manufactured at ATK's facility in Promontory, Utah. The nozzle design includes an ATK-developed thermal protection material that is capable of shielding the nozzle from the extreme heat of launch when external temperatures can exceed 4,000 degrees Fahrenheit.
The Delta IV composite structures manufactured by ATK provide higher performance with lower weight and include the GEM cases, nose cones and aeroskirts, and the launch vehicle fairing, payload attach fitting and diaphragm, interstage, centerbody, and thermal shield—a total of 12 key composite structures. These structures measure up to five meters in diameter and up to 12 meters in length. The structures are all produced using advanced wet winding, hand layup, machining and inspection techniques at the ATK Clearfield, Utah, and Iuka, Mississippi, facilities.
For the GPS IIF-6 satellite, ATK provided a host of products and services:
•ATK's Goleta, Calif., facility designed and manufactured the satellite solar arrays and a deployment boom. ATK has achieved 100 percent on-orbit success on all solar arrays and deployable systems delivered and launched to date.
•ATK's San Diego, Calif., facility manufactured the composite solar array substrates.
•ATK's Commerce, Calif., facility had responsibility for the ullage tank assembly, including the blankets, heaters, thermistors and pressurant lines. This tank is a spherical vessel constructed of titanium.
•ATK's Beltsville, Md., facility provided heat pipes for the GPS IIF equipment and radiator panels.
•ATK's Rancho Bernardo, Calif. facility performed final assembly and RF (Radio Frequency) testing of the antenna suite for GPS IIF between 2003 and 2010.
The Block IIF series will replace the GPS Block IIA satellites that were launched between 1990 and 1997. The IIF space vehicles provide improved accuracy, enhanced internal atomic clocks, better anti-jam resistance, a civil signal for commercial aviation and a longer design life.
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#158
by
Galactic Penguin SST
on 20 May, 2014 14:28
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The satellite in A3 is going to outage in the next few days and hope we can see the change on the official GPS website
I think that SVN38 outage relates to maintenance and does not relate to slot's name changes.
Yes. However, SVN 39 in A5 has a Forecast Unusable UFN. I suspect you'll get a DECOM NANU shortly after SVN 67 launches.
Same thing happened with SVN 36 when 64 launched.
SVN 39 (GPS IIA-12) has been decommissioned late yesterday:
http://www.navcen.uscg.gov/?Do=gpsShowNanu&num=2014046
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#159
by
input~2
on 20 May, 2014 20:21
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For the record, Delta IV 2nd stage has been catalogued as
2014-026B/39742 in 20,505 x 20,767 km x 54.91°
