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**<\/em><\/u><\/font>FREE LAUNCH VIDEO**<\/font><\/em> \u2013 <\/em>(Video section is FREE, but you need to sign up as a member of the forum to enter the video section of the site. We only use your e-mail to send you your password. It will not be used for spam etc.)<\/em><\/font> <\/p>\n <\/font><\/font>Reaction<\/p>\n <\/font><\/u><\/em>\u2018We are extremely proud of our ability to deliver mission success for our customer,\u2019 said<\/font> Don DeGryse, Lockheed Martin\u2019s vice president of Navigation Systems.<\/p>\n \u2018The modernized IIR-M program is providing new capabilities for<\/font> navigation users around the globe and we look forward to executing a timely and efficient on-orbit checkout of this world-class, high-performance spacecraft.\u2019<\/p>\n \u2018Our Delta team understands the importance GPS satellites play in protecting our military and helping them defend our country,\u2019 said Dan Collins, vice president and general manager, Boeing Launch Systems. <\/p>\n \u2018The Delta II vehicle has a strong record of performance, and I am proud of the team\u2019s commitment to mission success and our role in sustaining the GPS constellation.\u2019<\/font> <\/p>\n Mission<\/font> <\/font> The mission is being carried out for the US Air Force, placing the third modernized GPS spacecraft built by Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems into a 11,000 mile circular orbit, to join the first two IIR-M spacecraft and 12 other operational Block IIR satellites currently on-orbit within the overall 30-spacecraft constellation.<\/font> Lockheed Martin are under contract to build a total of eight modernized IIR spacecraft for the Global Positioning Systems Wing, Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, <\/font>California.<\/p>\n <\/font> <\/p>\n The GPS constellation is designed and operated as a 24-satellite system, consisting of six planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane. The GPS satellites are placed into nearly 11,000-mile circular orbits. While circling the Earth, the systems transmit signals on three different L-band frequencies. Their design life is 10 years.<\/p>\n <\/font><\/font><\/p>\n The GPS IIR-M series offers a variety of enhanced features for GPS users, such as a modernized antenna panel that provides increased signal power to receivers on the ground, two new military signals for improved accuracy, enhanced encryption and anti-jamming capabilities for the military, and a second civil signal that will provide users with an open access signal on a different frequency.<\/font><\/font><\/font> The Delta II 7925-9.5 configuration vehicle features a Boeing first stage booster powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and nine Alliant Techsystems (ATK) solid rocket boosters. <\/p>\n An Aerojet AJ10-118K engine powered the storable propellant restartable second stage. A Thiokol Star-48B solid rocket motor propelled the third stage prior to spacecraft deployment. The rocket also flew with a nine-and-a-half-foot diameter Boeing payload fairing.<\/font><\/p>\n <\/font><\/p>\n A redundant inertial flight control assembly built by L3 Communications Space & Navigation provided guidance and control for the rocket, enabling a precise deployment of the satellite.<\/font><\/p>\n The IIR-16 mission comes six weeks after the successful launch of another vehicle in the Delta family, the Delta IV\/DMSP-17 (Defense Meteorological Satellite Program), from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. <\/font>Meanwhile, Lockheed Martin engineers carried out the successful completion of a System Requirements Review (SRR) for the satellite, on Thursday.<\/font> <\/font><\/p>\n \u2018This important review successfully demonstrated our requirements maturity and readiness to proceed with a low risk, high confidence program to provide<\/font> <\/font>exceptional positioning and timing capabilities for both military and civil users worldwide,\u2019 said Don DeGryse, vice president, Lockheed Martin Navigation Systems. <\/p>\n \u2018We look forward to working with our customer to achieve mission success on this critical initiative.\u2019<\/font><\/font><\/font><\/p>\n **NASASpaceflight.com Job Opportunities**<\/em><\/font> <\/p>\n <\/font> A Lockheed Martin GPS Block IIR-16 satellite has launched on a Boeing Delta II launch vehicle Friday. Lift-off was at 19:13 GMT (2:13 pm EST). Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin spoke of their pride, following the successful mission conclusion of the launch, which was confirmed by spacecraft seperation 68 minutes later after lift-off from Cape […]<\/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":[],"class_list":["post-41881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41881"}],"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=41881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41881\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=41881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=41881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=41881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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Known as GPS IIR-M, the modernized spacecraft are the most technologically advanced GPS satellites ever developed and are designed to provide significantly improved navigation performance for U.S. military and civilian users worldwide.<\/p>\n
Carrying the satellite in orbit will be the Delta II \u2013 7925-9.5 version \u2013 launch vehicle, aiming to extend a near faultless reliability record, standing at 98.3 percent over 118 launches.<\/p>\n
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