{"id":13444,"date":"2018-12-17T18:37:45","date_gmt":"2018-12-17T10:37:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/air-force-requirements-will-keep-spacex-from-landing-falcon-9-booster-after-gps-launch\/"},"modified":"2018-12-17T18:37:45","modified_gmt":"2018-12-17T10:37:45","slug":"air-force-requirements-will-keep-spacex-from-landing-falcon-9-booster-after-gps-launch","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/air-force-requirements-will-keep-spacex-from-landing-falcon-9-booster-after-gps-launch\/","title":{"rendered":"Air Force requirements will keep SpaceX from landing Falcon 9 booster after GPS launch"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated Dec. 19, Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 for new target launch dates.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"
The U.S. Air Force\u2019s first upgraded GPS 3-series navigation satellite undergoes electromagnetic testing at Lockheed Martin\u2019s factory in Denver. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The demands of launching the first in an upgraded line of U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellites, including a late load of extra fuel for the spacecraft and a military policy of reserving fuel to eliminate space junk, will keep SpaceX from recovering the first stage of its Falcon 9 rocket following liftoff Sunday from Cape Canaveral, according to mission managers.<\/p>\n

The mission set for launch during a 26-minute window opening at 8:51 a.m. EST (1351 GMT) Sunday will mark the first time SpaceX has launched one of its new Falcon 9 \u201cBlock 5\u201d boosters in an expendable configuration since the latest Falcon 9 variant debuted in May, with modifications aimed at making the first stage easier to recover and reuse.<\/p>\n

But the Falcon 9\u2019s landing capability will not be on display during Sunday\u2019s mission, which is set to blast off from Cape Canaveral\u2019s Complex 40 launch pad.<\/p>\n

The rocket\u2019s first stage will fly without the four landing legs and aerodynamic grid fins used to bring the booster back to Earth intact, according to Lee Rosen, SpaceX\u2019s vice president of customer operations and integration. The mission will be the first by SpaceX to dispose of a Falcon 9\u2019s first stage since June, and the first time one of the company\u2019s new Block 5 boosters has ever been intentionally discarded.<\/p>\n

SpaceX hoped to launch the Falcon 9 rocket Tuesday \u2014 when Vice President Mike Pence was visiting the Florida spaceport \u2014 but a bad sensor reading in the final minutes of the countdown forced mission managers to scrub the launch. Officials rescheduled the flight for Thursday, but stormy weather on Florida\u2019s Space Coast kept the rocket grounded. Then upper level winds were a problem during a launch attempt Saturday.<\/p>\n

The Falcon 9 rocket is crowned with the Air Force\u2019s first GPS 3-series satellite, the vanguard of a new block of up to 32 Lockheed Martin-built navigation stations with better accuracy and higher power than previous GPS spacecraft. The satellite, valued at more than a half-billion dollars, is heading to an orbit around 12,550 miles (20,200 kilometers) above Earth, with a ground track angled 55 degrees to the equator.<\/p>\n

Instead of heading due east from Cape Canaveral, as the Falcon 9 rocket does with most of its commercial communications satellite payloads, the SpaceX launcher will fly to the northeast over the Atlantic Ocean, following a trajectory roughly parallel to the U.S. East Coast. Launching toward the northeast reduces the extra boost in speed a rocket naturally receives from Earth\u2019s eastward rotation, meaning it needs to burn more propellant accelerate the GPS satellite into the proper orbit.<\/p>\n

Air Force and SpaceX officials cited those factors, along with the weight of the first GPS 3-series satellite \u2014 designated GPS 3 SV01 \u2014 and \u201cuncertainty\u201d in the Falcon 9\u2019s performance to such an orbit, as reasons for deciding to forego a landing of the Falcon 9 booster on Sunday\u2019s mission.<\/p>\n

The Air Force also has to comply with a government policy instituted in recent years to avoid leaving spent rocket stages in orbit, and the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage will reignite after releasing the GPS 3 SV01 satellite to target a controlled destructive re-entry back into Earth\u2019s atmosphere a few hours later. Mission designers had to set aside some of the rocket\u2019s fuel for the de-orbit burn to satisfy the Air Force requirement, which is aimed at preventing space junk.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor this first launch for GPS, we\u2019re given particular parameters in terms of where we have to put them into orbit, as well as what we have in terms of how much weight does the spacecraft have,\u201d said Walter Lauderdale, the GPS 3 SV01 mission director from the Air Force\u2019s Space and Missile Systems Center Launch Enterprise Systems Directorate. \u201cAnd in doing that mission design to include a re-entry to dispose of the second stage, all those taken together levy performance requirements on the Falcon 9 launch vehicle, (and) as it went through mission design, there simply was not enough performance reserve to meet our requirements and allow them \u2014 for this mission \u2014 to bring the first stage back, as they\u2019ve been doing quite successfully.\u201d<\/p>\n

The first GPS 3-series satellite also weighs more than initially planned after managers opted to load extra fuel into the spacecraft, a move that will give the mission added \u201cresiliency,\u201d said Col. Steve Whitney, director of the Global Positioning Systems Directorate at the Air Force\u2019s Space and Missile Systems Center.<\/p>\n

The additional fuel load gives the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft a launch weight of around 9,700 pounds, or 4,400 kilograms, according to Whitney. That\u2019s more than a half-ton above the satellite\u2019s originally expected weight.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe added some additional fuel for some mission capabilities to make sure that the system is going to perform,\u201d Whitney said.<\/p>\n

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The GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft is encapsulated inside the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s payload fairing at the Astrotech payload processing facility in Titusville, Florida. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The mix of launcher and satellite parameters are the key inputs to designing a rocket mission, and once the Air Force and SpaceX see how the Falcon 9 performs Sunday, engineers could determine if future Falcon 9 launches with GPS satellites will be able to hold enough of a propellant reserve in the booster for a propulsive landing. The Falcon 9\u2019s landing legs and grid fins also add weight to the rocket, reducing the payload it can haul into orbit.<\/p>\n

The launch of the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft is SpaceX\u2019s first national security space mission, a class of U.S. military and intelligence-gathering payloads that include GPS navigation satellites, secure communications satellites, early warning sentinels, and top secret surveillance spacecraft.<\/p>\n

SpaceX has launched a handful of missions for U.S. national security customers, including a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office and an Air Force X-37B space plane in 2017, but those launches were booked separately from the Air Force\u2019s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle, or EELV, program. SpaceX\u2019s Falcon rocket family and the Atlas and Delta rocket fleets operated by rival United Launch Alliance are currently certified by the Air Force to compete for EELV-class missions, which include the military\u2019s most costly and highest-priority satellites.<\/p>\n

While landing and refurbishing rockets cut costs for future missions, Air Force officials said their concern about the GPS spacecraft outweighed any other considerations.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrankly, the rocket is here to make sure we deliver this capability safely and accurately on orbit,\u201d Lauderdale said. \u201cWe\u2019ll continue to work with all of our partners to see, as we look at the uncertainty and reduce it, looking for what opportunities are available in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

After getting the Falcon 9 rocket certified for national security launches in 2015, SpaceX won its first GPS 3 launch contract in 2016, an agreement the Air Force said then was valued at $82.7 million. The Air Force has since awarded SpaceX contracts for four additional GPS 3-series satellite launches in head-to-head competitions with ULA, which was the sole company certified to compete for EELV-class launches for a decade.<\/p>\n

SpaceX\u2019s Falcon Heavy rocket was certified by the Air Force earlier this year, in the wake of the heavy-lifter\u2019s first test flight in February. The Air Force has already awarded one national security launch contract to the Falcon Heavy since it became eligible for such missions.<\/p>\n

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File photo of a Falcon 9 first stage booster landing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station following a launch to resupply the International Space Station. Credit: SpaceX<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t want to commit to a particular mission,\u201d Lauderdale said in response to a question on whether booster landings could be feasible on future Falcon 9\/GPS launches. \u201cJust fundamentally, we need to work through the uncertainty (and) finalize performance. Also, keep in mind, we have Block 5 just introduced this year in May. We\u2019re getting flight experience, together with SpaceX, and that removes uncertainty. That gives us more confidence in what performance the vehicle can deliver, and we\u2019ll continue to work as partners to see what\u2019s possible in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lauderdale called the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft set for launch Sunday \u201cprecious cargo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going through and making sure we are taking care of the spacecraft, making sure we meet all of its requirements,\u201d Lauderdale said. \u201cEverything we do, we are making sure that we treat it safely.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to see what we actually observed in all the (launch) environments, through all the insertions and the performance of the Falcon 9,\u201d he continued. \u201cWe\u2019re going to come back together as a team to refine our analysis and look for opportunities \u2014 while we uncompromisingly deliver the spacecraft where it needs to go \u2014 and look at if we can get performance back that would enable SpaceX to recover their booster. So it\u2019s an ongoing process.\u201d<\/p>\n

ULA\u2019s Delta 4 rocket is slated to launch the second GPS 3-series spacecraft next summer, an Air Force spokesperson said Monday. That is a few months later than the previously-planned launch date in April, a slip industry sources said is due to the Air Force\u2019s preference to complete testing of GPS 3 SV01 in space before committing to launching the second GPS 3 model.<\/p>\n

The Delta 4 is an expendable launcher by design, and the launch of the GPS 3 SV02 satellite next year will mark the final flight of the Delta 4\u2019s basic \u201csingle stick\u201d configuration. ULA is retiring the smaller variants of the Delta 4 \u2014 but keeping the triple-body Delta 4-Heavy in service \u2014 and focusing flights in the next few years on the less expensive Atlas 5 rocket, while developing the next-generation Vulcan launcher with reusable Blue Origin BE-4 engines, which could eventually be retrieved and refurbished.<\/p>\n

The third GPS 3-series spacecraft is assigned to fly on a Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in December 2019, the Air Force said. Subsequent GPS launches are planned at intervals of as short as four-and-a-half months, but officials will decide on a launch schedule based on the needs and health of the overall GPS network, according to an Air Force spokesperson.<\/p>\n

In total, SpaceX has won contracts to launch five of the first six GPS 3-series satellites on Falcon 9 rockets. Lockheed Martin is under contract to build up to 32 GPS 3 satellites, beginning with a block of 10 spacecraft planned for launch through the early-to-mid-2020s, and followed by a batch of up to 22 follow-on GPS 3F satellites scheduled to launch beginning in 2026.<\/p>\n

Air Force officials said some of the GPS satellites could launch on Falcon 9 rockets with previously-flown boosters.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe absolutely intend to be able to certify previously-flown launch vehicles,\u201d said Col. Robert Bongiovi, director of the Launch Enterprise Systems Directorate at the Air Force\u2019s Space and Missile Systems Center. \u201cWe are working with SpaceX to go through and understand what\u2019s different, and what\u2019s better, and what do we have to watch out for when you start going with previously-flown hardware. You\u2019ve got all the return, the checkout and all that stuff. SpaceX has a lot of experience doing this. We learned a lot with them, and we\u2019re trying to put together a plan to actually help us learn as well on doing that, but it\u2019s a process. We\u2019re going to go through and do this in a very deliberate way to make sure the satellite makes orbit on every launch vehicle we procure.\u201d<\/p>\n

SpaceX has launched recycled rockets on orbital missions 18 times, all successfully, a tally that includes a pair of previously-flown boosters on the inaugural launch of the Falcon Heavy rocket in February.<\/p>\n

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The U.S. Air Force\u2019s first Lockheed Martin-built GPS 3-series satellite is enclosed within the Falcon 9 rocket\u2019s payload fairing in preparation for launch. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GPS launch pushes Falcon 9 to its limits<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Hans Koenigsmann, SpaceX\u2019s vice president of build and flight reliability, told reporters earlier this month that the upcoming GPS launch is a \u201cdemanding\u201d mission for the Falcon 9.<\/p>\n

Generally, there\u2019s less fuel left over in the Falcon 9 rocket for landing burns on missions aiming for higher orbits, such as geostationary transfer orbit often used for commercial communications satellite launches, or the higher-inclination orbit used by GPS satellites.<\/p>\n

On a launch due east from Cape Canaveral into a geostationary transfer orbit stretching more than 22,000 miles above Earth, the Falcon 9 Block 5 rocket \u2014 which introduced an uptick in performance in addition to reusability improvements \u2014 can loft a payload of more than 14,330 pounds (6,500 kilograms) if SpaceX bypasses a landing opportunity and devotes all of the launcher\u2019s propellant to the payload, Koenigsmann said during an October presentation at the International Astronautical Congress in Bremen, Germany.<\/p>\n

Committing some of the Falcon 9\u2019s propellants to landing the first stage on a drone ship in the Atlantic Ocean reduces the rocket\u2019s capacity to the same orbit to roughly 12,125 pounds (5,500 kilograms), Koenigsmann said. The maneuvers required to return the first stage to landing back at Cape Canaveral trim the Falcon 9\u2019s geostationary transfer orbit lift capability to around 7,716 pounds (3,500 kilograms), he said.<\/p>\n

While the GPS satellites fly at an altitude below geostationary orbit, their orbits are tilted at a higher angle to the equator, reducing the speed boost offered by Earth\u2019s spin. Factor in the Air Force\u2019s requirement to de-orbit the second stage after the mission, and the GPS launch pushes the Falcon 9 closer to its limits than most flights.<\/p>\n

The Air Force has implemented the policy to bring upper stages back into the atmosphere on several recent launches with ULA, resulting in the need to outfit rockets with extra solid rocket boosters, or to place payloads into lower orbits to accommodate the change. Falcon 9 rockets do not carry strap-on boosters, so officials had to make adjustments elsewhere.<\/p>\n

A mission timeline released by SpaceX on Monday shows the Falcon 9\u2019s upper stage, powered by a single Merlin engine, will fire two times to inject the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft into an elliptical transfer orbit, with a high point near the altitude of the GPS satellite fleet more than 12,000 miles above Earth.<\/p>\n

Whitney, the Air Force\u2019s GPS directorate director, declined to publicly disclose the exact parameters for the orbit targeted on Sunday\u2019s launch, a break from the service\u2019s policy on previous GPS satellite deployments. SpaceX also has not released the altitude of the target insertion orbit for the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft. That is consistent with the company\u2019s typical practice, but a departure from the disclosure policies followed by SpaceX\u2019s main competitors.<\/p>\n

Separation of the GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft from the Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled at T+plus 1 hour, 56 minutes.<\/p>\n

The GPS 3 SV01 spacecraft is set to reach a circular orbit at the GPS fleet\u2019s altitude around 10 days after launch, Whitney said. Seven firings by the satellite\u2019s liquid-fueled main engine are planned to circularize the craft\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

New GPS satellite will replace 21-year-old navigation craft<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Once it joins the rest of the GPS constellation, the new satellite will undergo six-to-nine months of checkouts to verify the health of key spacecraft systems, and test the functionality of its navigation instrumentation provided by Harris Corp. Another testing phase to validate the new GPS satellite\u2019s compatibility with the rest of the navigation network will take an additional six-to-nine months, Whitney said.<\/p>\n

When GPS 3 SV01 is ready for operational service, it will replace SVN 43 in Plane F, Slot 6, of the GPS fleet. The Air Force currently operates 31 GPS satellites, including spares, spread among six orbital planes to ensure the network provides uninterrupted global positioning, navigation and timing services to military and civilian users.<\/p>\n

SVN 43 has outlived its seven-and-a-half-year design lifetime since its launch as the GPS 2R-2 satellite aboard a Delta 2 rocket in July 1997. The GPS 3 SV01 satellite will be known to GPS users as SVN 74 when it becomes operational, Whitney said.<\/p>\n

The Air Force has nicknamed the GPS SV01 satellite \u201cVespucci\u201d after the Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci.<\/p>\n

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Artist\u2019s concept of a GPS 3 satellites in space. Credit: Lockheed Martin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThese GPS 3 satellites will introduce modernized capabilities and signals that are three times more accurate and up to eight times more powerful than previous generations,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cThey also broadcast a signal compatible with other global navigation satellite systems, allowing users around the globe the ability ro receive and use the signals from multiple constellations, thus maximizing availability and accuracy of navigation signals worldwide.\u201d<\/p>\n

The GPS network currently providers users with position estimates with an accuracy of around 50 centimeters, or about 20 inches, Whitney said, assuming receivers are not contending with terrain, trees, or buildings.<\/p>\n

GPS 3\u2019s first launch is four years behind schedule<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Air Force hoped to launch the first GPS 3-series satellite in 2014 when the Pentagon approved full development of the multibillion-dollar program in 2008, according to a Government Accountability Office report.<\/p>\n

Officials blamed technical issues with the satellites\u2019 navigation payloads for much of the four-year delay. The navigation payloads consist of ultra-precise rubidium atomic clocks, radiation-hardened processors and powerful L-band transmitters, according to Harris Corp.<\/p>\n

The new features on the GPS 3-series satellites include the addition of a fourth civilian L-band signal \u2014 known as L1C \u2014 designed to be interoperable with other global navigation satellite fleets. Europe\u2019s Galileo, China\u2019s Beidou, and Japan\u2019s QZSS navigation satellite networks provide a similar signal, allowing users to combine navigation fixes with satellites from different fleets, generating a more accurate position estimate.<\/p>\n

Just as more satellites give users more accurate position estimates, the stacking of signals at different frequencies allow receivers to sort out distortions caused as the radio waves pass through the upper atmosphere, further refining the accuracy of GPS navigation.<\/p>\n

The last satellite in the previous series of Boeing-made GPS spacecraft launched in 2016, and Whitney said the GPS fleet \u201cremains healthy, stable and robust.\u201d<\/p>\n

Contributors to the GPS 3 delays included issues with failed and damaged capacitors, components which store and release electrical charges in the satellites\u2019 navigation payloads, according to a GAO report last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cAccording to program officials, each satellite has over 500 capacitors of the same design that experienced failures,\u201d the GAO wrote in a May 2017 report to Congress.<\/p>\n

Officials discovered that the subcontractor which supplied the capacitors did not qualify the components for use in the GPS satellites. Engineers then invalidated the results of reliability testing of the parts before the capacitors were finally declared fit for the GPS satellites.<\/p>\n

But GPS 3 SV01 is still fitted with the suspect capacitors, according to the GAO.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Air Force decided to assume the risk of capacitor failure and proceed with the first satellite as-is, fitted with capacitors mostly from the questionable lot,\u201d the GAO wrote last year. \u201cThe program replaced the suspect capacitors in the second and third satellites, the only other satellites that had the suspect parts.\u201d<\/p>\n

GPS 3 brings upgrades to global navigation fleet<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The GPS 3-series satellites are built to operate at least 15 years, and their higher-power transmitters make their navigation signals less susceptible to jamming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe big things here we\u2019re going to see with GPS 3, we\u2019re going to see an increase in power,\u201d Whitney said. \u201cWe\u2019ve put a requirement on there to produce stronger signals to try to fight through some of that jamming that we see, particularly on our military signals. We\u2019ve also put on a requirement for increased accuracy. So the user will eventually see that when it comes online. We\u2019ve added some additional civil signals.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like the previous line of GPS 2F satellites, the GPS 3-series spacecraft will broadcast a dedicated L5 signal geared to support air navigation. The GPS 3 satellites also continue beaming an encrypted military-grade navigation signal known as M-code.<\/p>\n

\u201cGPS 3 satellites will also bring the full capability to use M-code and increase the anti-jam resilience in support of our warfighters and allies,\u201d Whitney said.<\/p>\n

The M-code is intended to give U.S. and allied forces an advantage on the battlefield, allowing GPS satellites to beam higher-power, jam-resistant signals to specific regions. It could also give the military the ability to disrupt or jam civilian signals in a particular region without degrading the M-code signals, giving friendly forces an advantage.<\/p>\n

\u201cA long time ago, there used to be a capability for what we called then selective availability, where we could degrade, or not put out as accurate of a civil signal,\u201d he said. \u201cThat capability no longer exists within the system, but we have gone to this new M-code signal for our military users, which is the same frequency but spectrally separated a little bit. That allows us to do special things for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even with the first GPS 3 satellite\u2019s launch, all of the upgrades coming in the new generation of navigation satellites will not be available to military and civilian users until developers finish work on a modernized ground control system to make use of the improvements.<\/p>\n

Raytheon is charged with developing the Next Generation Operational Control Segment. Better known as OCX, the command and control system is projected to cost up to $6 billion \u2014 $2 billion or more over budget \u2014 and is at least five years behind schedule. The full version of OCX, known as Block 1, likely won\u2019t be ready until 2021 or 2022, and only then will the full potential of the GPS 3 satellites be realized, Whitney told reporters Dec. 14.<\/p>\n

The GAO found that \u201cpoor acquisition decisions and a slow recognition of development problems\u201d caused the delays in the new GPS ground command and control system, which is backward-compatible with older GPS satellites and is needed to process the M-code military signal and the new interoperable L1C civilian signal. The Air Force has an initial version of the OCX command and control system \u2014 named Block 0 \u2014 ready for handle the launch and in-orbit checkout of the GPS 3 satellites, and Whitney said the Air Force is working on an interim upgrade to the existing GPS control system to allow the M-code signal to begin testing with military units in 2020, 15 years after the launch of the first satellite with M-code.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers and the GAO have also raised concerns about the readiness of user receivers outfitted to handle the M-code signal, and each new GPS capability will only have global reach when it is deployed on 24 satellites.<\/p>\n

\u201cFull M-code capability \u2014 which includes both the ability to broadcast a signal via satellites and a ground system and user equipment to receive the signal \u2014 will take at least a decade once the services are able to deploy MGUE (military GPS user equipment) receivers in sufficient numbers,\u201d the GAO wrote in a review of the GPS 3 program last year.<\/p>\n

Despite the delays and technical hurdles, more users than ever rely on GPS satellites, and the network\u2019s reach extends around the world, infiltrating numerous facets of society and billions of lives, with applications ranging from banking to online dating.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the civilian user, GPS has become a pallet on which to create and innovate,\u201d said Johnathon Caldwell, Lockheed Martin\u2019s Vice President of navigation systems. \u201cI don\u2019t think five years ago people thought you\u2019d have your ride-hailing apps, or you\u2019d be able to grab a scooter and get around some of the big cities differently. You wouldn\u2019t see the productivity in America\u2019s heartland without the innovations in farming that have come about.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe world is changing rapidly,\u201d Caldwell said. \u201cWe\u2019re talking about autonomous cars. How can we be more fuel-efficient with airplanes, with automobiles? How can we be better stewards of our environment? GPS, and these new advanced capabilities, give people an opportunity to do creative things and be innovative.\u201d<\/p>\n

Email the author.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n

Follow Stephen Clark on Twitter: @StephenClark1.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

EDITOR\u2019S NOTE: Updated Dec. 19, Dec. 21 and Dec. 22 for new target launch dates. The U.S. Air Force\u2019s first upgraded GPS 3-series navigation satellite undergoes electromagnetic testing at Lockheed Martin\u2019s factory in Denver. Credit: Lockheed Martin The demands of launching the first in an upgraded line of U.S. Air Force GPS navigation satellites, including a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2301,1736,2705,479,1808,1096,2795,2796],"class_list":["post-13444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-a2100","tag-complex-40","tag-eelv","tag-falcon-9","tag-global-positioning-system","tag-gps-3","tag-gps-3-1","tag-harris-corp"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13444"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13444"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13444\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}