Air Force Launches Last GPS Block IIR-M Satellite
The U.S. Air Force successfully launched the last in the series of eight modernized GPS (IIR-M) satellites today (August 17) at 6:35 a.m. (EDT).
Using the Space Launch Complex 17A at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the satellite was carried into space aboard the last of the Air Force’s United Launch Alliance Delta II rockets.
GPS IIR-21(M) will join the constellation of 30 operational satellites on-orbit, assuming a position in plane E, slot 3 and replacing space vehicle number 40 (SVN40). The Air Force expects to set the satellite healthy for navigation users worldwide next month.
By Inside GNSS