The first of an advanced new fleet of navigation satellites for the U.S. Air Force soared into space late Thursday in a blazing night open from a seaside pad in Florida.The new global positioning system (GPS) satellite, called GPS 2F-1, flaming off atop an unmanned Delta 4 rocket at 11 p.m. EDT (0300 Friday GMT) from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.GPS 2F-1 lifted off after a week of delay due to bad weather and technical issue. It is the first of a planned fleet of 12 new satellites to provide around-the-clock navigation ultra-precise direction-finding and timing services for military and civilian."These next-generation satellites give improved accuracy through advanced atomic clocks; a more jam-resistant military signal and a longer design life than earlier GPS satellites; and a new civil signal that profit aviation safety and search-and-rescue efforts," said Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager for Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, which built the new satellite.
The GPS satellite network currently in use today flies about 11,000 miles (17,702 km) above the Earth and beam nonstop navigation signals to provide accurate longitude, latitude, altitude and time information for users on Earth. The network was originally developed for the U.S. military but has since found use for a wide range of marketable applications.
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