GPS IIF-8 Mission Overview
Rocket/Payload: An Atlas V 401 will launch the GPS IIF-8 mission for the U.S. Air Force.
Date/Site/Launch Time: Wednesday, Oct. 29, 2014, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The 18-minute launch window opens at 1:21 p.m. EDT.
Viewing the Launch by Webcast: The live webcast will begin at 1:01 p.m. EDT. http://www.ulalaunch.com/
Mission Description: GPS satellites serve and protect our war-fighters by providing navigational assistance for U.S. military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. Civilian users around the world also use and depend on GPS for highly accurate time, location, and velocity information. GPS IIF-8 is one of the next-generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.
Launch Notes: GPS IIF-8 will be ULA’s fourth GPS launch of 2014 and the 12th of the year. The mission will mark ULA’s 89th mission launched since the company was founded in 2006.
Launch Updates: To keep up to speed with updates to the launch countdown, dial the ULA launch hotline at 1-877-852-4321 or join the conversation at www.facebook.com/ulalaunch and twitter.com/ulalaunch; look for the #GPSIIF8 hashtag.
More Info
The Air Force Second Space Operations Squadron (2 SOPS) indicates that IIF-8, SVN-69/PRN-03, will replace SVN-51 in the E plane slot 1. SVN-51 will be re-phased from E1 to an auxiliary node at E7 somewhere around SVN-54 currently on station at E4. SVN-38/PRN-08 will be taken out of the operational constellation prior to SVN-69 payload initialization and sent to Launch, Anomaly Resolution and Disposal Operations (LADO). PRN-08 will be assigned initially to SVN-49 and set to test. SVN-38 was launched on 05 November of 1997, successfully serving nearly 17 years, 9.5 years beyond its designed service life, due to the diligent efforts of the men and women of the U.S. Air Force. SVN-51 will remain in an auxiliary node once it completes its re-phase journey. Expect the SVN-51 re-phase to take about 6 months after the initial burn occurs.