Tag: GPS
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January to kick-start Chinese record breaking year of up to 40 launches
The Chinese are looking to bounce back from last year’s failures that almost brought their space program to an almost standstill with a 2018 that may see as many as 40 orbital launches – smashing their previous record of 22 launches in 2016. China will not waste any time in kick-starting this frenetic 2018, a…
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January to kick-start Chinese record breaking year of up to 40 launches
The Chinese are looking to bounce back from last year’s failures that almost brought their space program to an almost standstill with a 2018 that may see as many as 40 orbital launches – smashing their previous record of 22 launches in 2016. China will not waste any time in kick-starting this frenetic 2018, a…
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Soyuz 2-1B successfully launches latest GLONASS-M mission
A Soyuz 2-1B rocket has conducted a launch in support of Russia’s GLONASS satellite navigation system in the early hours of Friday local time, carrying the Uragan-M No.52S spacecraft on a path to its destination orbit. Liftoff from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome in northern Russia was on schedule at 03:02 Moscow Time (00:02 UTC). Russian Launch:…
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SpaceX nabs GPS launch contract as Air Force opens more missions for bidding
File photo of a Falcon 9 rocket launching from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX The U.S. Air Force this week awarded SpaceX a contract to launch a Global Positioning System satellite in early 2019, concluding the second of as many as 15 competitions the military plans to run over the next year to pit SpaceX against…
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Russia deploys another GLONASS-M spacecraft via Soyuz 2-1B launch
A Russian Soyuz 2-1B has launched the latest GLONASS-M Global Navigation satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Launch occurred from Pad 43/4 at the spaceport, with T-0 reported as 08:44 UTC on Sunday. The spacecraft was launched with the designation of Glonass n°53, ahead of being renamed Kosmos-2516 once operational in orbit. Spacecraft separation occurred at 12:16…
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Russia deploys another GLONASS-M spacecraft via Soyuz 2-1B launch
A Russian Soyuz 2-1B has launched the latest GLONASS-M Global Navigation satellite from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. Launch occurred from Pad 43/4 at the spaceport, with T-0 reported as 08:44 UTC on Sunday. The spacecraft was launched with the designation of Glonass n°53, ahead of being renamed Kosmos-2516 once operational in orbit. Spacecraft separation occurred at 12:16…
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GPS-3 is go: SpaceX wins its first national security launch contract … by default
SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket launches the Deep Space Climate Observatory for NOAA, NASA and the Air Force in February 2015. SpaceX has launched payloads for the Air Force previously, but now it’s been chosen for the launch of a national security payload. (Credit: SpaceX) SpaceX today won an $82.7 million contract to launch a GPS-3…
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Falcon 9 rocket wins landmark U.S. Air Force launch contract
File photo of a Falcon 9 launch from Cape Canaveral. Credit: SpaceX SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket will launch a third-generation GPS navigation satellite for the U.S. military in 2018, the Air Force said Wednesday, breaking a monopoly held by United Launch Alliance since its formation nearly a decade ago. The second satellite in the Air…
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Pentagon opens investigation into contracts with ULA
File photo of an Atlas 5 rocket launch from Cape Canaveral with a U.S. Navy communications satellite in January 2015. Credit: ULA The U.S. Defense Department’s internal watchdog has opened a probe into whether the Pentagon’s contracts with United Launch Alliance were properly awarded after a former ULA executive implied the government rigged a recent…
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Boeing-built GPS satellite goes into orbit
United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rocket rises from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the GPS IIF-12 satellite into space. (Credit: United Launch Alliance) The last GPS Block IIF satellite built by the Boeing Co. was sent into orbit for the U.S. Air Force today, filling out a set of a dozen. United Launch…