Scott Powers
Count on a satellite with one of the most accurate clocks in the solar system to get into space on time.
Friday morning an Atlas V rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, bucking strong winds that threatened a scrubbed launch, to lift the last of the latest set of Air Force GPS satellites into orbit.
The GPS IIF-12 satellite is more than just a military orbiter. It also provides civilian service throughout the world, as well as advanced airplane tracking navigation for the FAA. With Friday’s successful launch, the minivan-sized, Boeing-made satellite will join a constellation of 31 orbiting about 12,000 miles above the Earth.
The satellite does more than provide geo-positioning for cars, telephones, ships, airplanes and tanks worldwide. Its next-generation atomic clock also provides precision timing signals for both military and civilian use.
The rocket went up from Launch Complex 41 under a perfectly clear-blue morning sky, but through winds that blew steadily at 22-26 mph and gusted stronger. That wind, though, was within the parameters of the Atlas V.
It was the 12th and last in the latest generation of GPS satellites to join the orbit. It has a 12-year design life, and a GPS III series is in the works.
