GPS IIF SV-7 - Atlas V 401 - Канаверал SLC-41 - 01.08.2014 03:23 UTC

[Salo]

COUNTDOWN

11	:	08	:	23
DAYS		HOURS		MINS

Time to launch of GPS IIF-7 on 7/31/2014 23:27 EDT

http://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/space/#IIF

[SFN]

www.boeing.com/boeing/defense-space/space/gps/

[che wi]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av048/payload.html#.U812I0D-5eI

Payload set for launch aboard next Atlas 5 rocket
BY JUSTIN RAY
SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 21, 2014
 
CAPE CANAVERAL -- The next Global Positioning System satellite was mated atop its booster rocket today, marking a critical step towards the planned July 31 launch into space.

File photo of payload being mated to Atlas 5. Credit: ULA
 
The GPS 2F-7 satellite will ride a United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket into the navigation network fr om Cape Canaveral, Florida.
The direct-insertion launch will be possible during a nighttime window of 11:27 to 11:45 p.m. EDT.
"The reliability of our GPS constellation continues to improve as the Air Force systematically replaces aging satellites with more capable satellites and upgrades the architecture that improves capabilities," said Lt. Gen. Jay Raymond, of U.S. Strategic Command's joint functional component command for space.
"These capabilities will reduce the vulnerability of the (Positioning, Navigation and Timing) mission by making the GPS signal more robust/resilient, boosting the power and reliability to users, and providing near real-time command and control to enable space operators to take quick action in the face of growing threats."
Valued at $245 million, it is the 7th of 12 Boeing-built Block 2F satellites that are being launched to form the future foundation of the GPS network for the next 15 years.
GPS 2F-7 will take Plane F, Slot 3 of the constellation in a reshuffling and retirement plan that ultimately bolsters the network.
The satellite currently in that spot -- GPS 2R-2, launched aboard Delta 245 in July 1997 -- will be freed to maneuver elsewhere within the same F Plane and replace the 22-year-old retiring GPS 2A-14, one of the longest serving GPS spacecraft. It went up in July 1992 aboard Delta 211.
"The primary purpose of launching the new GPS 2F satellites is to field increased GPS signal capabilities, more accurate clocks, and reduce overall constellation risk," according to an Air Force spokesperson.
The GPS fleet features six orbital planes with at least four spacecraft in each grouping to generate the minimum 24-satellites needed for the network to function properly.
Early today, the space-bound GPS 2F-7 satellite, already encapsulated in the 39-foot-tall, 14-foot-diameter aluminum nose cone, was hauled to Complex 41 wh ere the two-stage rocket stood inside the Vertical Integration Facility, or VIF.
The fully built-up vehicle will be rolled to the launch pad the day before launch.
The launch will be the 629th for an Atlas vehicle, the 195th Atlas-Centaur, the 47th Atlas 5 rocket and the 23rd to fly in the 401 configuration with a four-meter fairing, no solids and a single-engine Centaur. For United Launch Alliance, it is slated to be the company's 34th flight for the Air Force, the 86th launch overall since 2006 and the 9th just this year.

[che wi]

Перенос пуска на 2 августа 3:23 (UTC) / 7:23 (MSK)

Date/Site/Launch Time: Friday, Aug. 1, 2014, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla. The 18-minute launch window opens at 11:23 p.m. EDT.

http://www.ulalaunch.com/atlas-v-to-launch-gps-iif7.aspx


Брошюра:
http://www.ulalaunch.com/uploads/docs/Mission_Booklets/AV/av_GPSIIF7_MOB.pdf

[Sharicoff]

Опять через северо-восточный азимут.

[che wi]

InsideKSC ‏@InsideKSC  5m

L-4 45WS weather forecast for Friday's @ulalaunch Atlas V #GPSIIF7 launch from CCAFS SLC-41 is 70% GO: http://tinyurl.com/GPS2F7WX 

[che wi]

[che wi]

[Salo]

http://www.spaceflightnow.com/atlas/av048/preview.html#.U9sVDKP-5eI

Atlas 5 rocket to fly Friday night with GPS satellite
BY SPACEFLIGHT NOW
Posted: July 30, 2014
 
CAPE CANAVERAL -- Continuing a surge of GPS replacement launches, the third such mission since February is due for blastoff Friday night fr om Florida's eastern coast.

An Atlas 5 rocket will carry the GPS 2F-7 bird directly into the navigation network following launch. The evening window runs fr om 11:23 to 11:41 p.m. EDT.
"Everyone in the room I am going to guess has been touched by GPS today in one way or another," said Air Force Space Command leader William Shelton. "Your smartphone, financial transaction, high-speed network you may have used that uses GPS timing. It literally serves the world."
This will be the seventh of Boeing's dozen Block 2F spacecraft to be launched. Together, they will form the backbone of the GPS network for the next 15 years.
The continuous navigation signals emitted by GPS satellites allow users to find their position in latitude, longitude and altitude and measure time. A GPS user receiver measures the time delay for the signal to reach the receiver, which is the direct measure of the apparent range to the satellite.
Measurements collected simultaneously from four satellites are processed to solve for the three dimensions of position, velocity and time. Users can determine their location to within feet, speed within a fraction of a mile per hour and time to within a second.
GPS 2F-7 is nicknamed Capella, the "goat star," which is the third brightest star in the northern celestial hemisphere. To symbolize the name, a ram is emblazoned on the Air Force launch crew's patch.
This year has featured a pair of Delta 4 rocket successfully launching GPS satellites in February and May, deploying the satellites nicknamed Canopus and Rigel, respectively. Now, it's the Atlas 5 rocket's turn to launch GPS 2F-7 and again in October with GPS 2F-8.
It has been 21 years -- back in 1993 -- since four or more GPS satellites were launched in a single year. Those were the heydays of a half-dozen launches per year to construct an operational constellation.
GPS 2F-7 will take Plane F, Slot 3 of the constellation in a reshuffling plan that ultimately bolsters the network.
The satellite currently in that spot -- GPS 2R-2, launched aboard Delta 245 in July 1997 -- will be freed to maneuver elsewh ere within the same F Plane and replace the 22-year-old GPS 2A-14, one of the longest serving GPS spacecraft. It went up in July 1992 aboard Delta 211.
"The primary purpose of launching the new GPS 2F satellites is to field increased GPS signal capabilities, more accurate clocks, and reduce overall constellation risk," according to an Air Force spokesperson.
The GPS fleet features six orbital planes with at least four spacecraft in each grouping to generate the minimum 24-satellites needed for the network to function properly.

File photo of Atlas 5. Credit: ULA
 
The storied history of GPS to provide precision navigation through a space-based constellation of satellites dates back to the 1970s, and Atlas rockets gave the earliest craft their lift into orbit to prove the novel concept would work.
Atlas boosters conducted 11 launches of the Block 1 series from February 1978 through October 1985 from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
The operational GPS satellites that created a worldwide phenomenon and today is used by civilans across the globe relied on the Delta family of rockets for their rides into space beginning in February 1989.
But Atlas got back in the game last year with the launch of GPS 2F-4, a modernized satellite made by Boeing that features improved accuracy, enhanced internal atomic clocks, better anti-jam resistance and a civil signal for commercial aviation.
"As I look around at this audience, I suspect some of you may have caught the space fever, like me, in the early days of space flight. Others of you are young enough to not even recall a world without GPS chips in your cell phones," said Shelton.
"Everyone in this audience knows GPS, but I'm guessing many of you did not know how this program got started. ...The Navy deployed the Transit System in the early 60's to provide two dimensional position location information to the fleet, while the Air Force worked on Project 621B to provide three dimensional position data that supported Air Force operations.
"Eventually, the DoD assigned joint program responsibility for GPS to the Air Force, and it has become an amazing world-wide utility, especially after presidential directives made its highest accuracy data available to people across the globe.
"From 1978, when the first GPS Block 1 satellites were launched, through 1995 when GPS Block 2 satellites became fully operational, the extraordinary precision provided by GPS navigation and timing signals has really revolutionized life as we know it. I'll be bold and say that everyone in this room has been touched by GPS today -- either through your smart phone's GPS chip or through some financial transaction -- if not both. Incredible new applications of GPS surface every day."
The United Launch Alliance Atlas 5 rocket flies in its frequently used 401 configuration to carry GPS satellites, a two-stage vehicle with no strap-on solids and a standard four-meter-wide nose cone, will be used to propel the 3,400-pound payload directly into the GPS network 11,047 nautical miles up.
For tips on taking pictures of the launch, see our photography guide.
For details on wh ere the best spots are to see the launch, see the viewing guide.
And if you will be away from your computer but would like to receive occasional updates, sign up for our Twitter feed to get text message updates sent to your cellphone. U.S. readers can also sign up from their phone by texting "follow spaceflightnow" to 40404. (Standard text messaging charges apply.)

[ВВК]

che wi пишет:
Перенос пуска на 2 августа 3:23 (UTC) / 7:23 (MSK)

Так что завтра без переносов?

[Benny]

Улетела! РД-180 отработал удачно, первое включение Центавра (2-я ступень) тоже удачно. Через 3 часа будет второе включение Центавра.

Пока ULA "обыгрывает" SpaceX со счётом 9-3 :-)

[Space Alien]

[Space Alien]

США запустили навигационный спутник GPS нового поколения


В американском штате Флорида состоялся запуск ракеты-носителя Atlas 5 с навигационным спутником нового поколения, который пополнит орбитальную группировку GPS. Ракета с аппаратом под названием GPS 2F стартовала с базы ВВС США на мысе Канаверал в 23:23 по времени Восточного побережья США (07:23 мск субботы).

Выводить GPS 2F на орбиту было доверено компании United Launch Alliance - совместному предприятию американских корпораций Boeing и Lockheed Martin. Спутник был помещен в специальную капсулу в верхней части носителя, в первой ступени которого установлен российский ракетный двигатель РД-180 НПО "Энергомаш". Нынешний запуск стал для Atlas 5 47-м.
Примерно через 3,5 часа после запуска спутник должен быть выведен на целевую орбиту высотой около 20,4 тыс км. Затем специалисты начнут тестирование аппарата, и если оно пройдет успешно, он заступит на службу.

GPS 2F является седьмым из 12 спутников, которые должны заменить устаревающие аппараты американской системы позиционирования, способной круглосуточно обеспечивать военных и гражданских потребителей сверхточной навигационной информацией. Первый аппарат из этой серии был отправлен в космос в 2010 году.
"Мы продолжаем реализацию программы по замене навигационных спутников. Новые аппараты повысят надежность системы GPS и улучшат ее работу", - заявил генерал-лейтенант ВВС США Джей Рэймонд. Американские военные подчеркивают, что система глобального позиционирования, разработанная и эксплуатирующаяся Пентагоном, используется не только для нужд национальной обороны, но и в гражданских целях по всему миру.

Спутники системы GPS передают навигационный сигнал, дающий точные значения широты, долготы, высоты и времени. По словам специалистов, этой системой сейчас пользуются более 1 млрд человек по всему миру.

Представители корпорации Boeing , разработавшей GPS 2F, отметили, что в качестве источника энергии в новом спутнике используется солнечный свет. Стоимость аппарата, расчетный срок службы которого составляет 12 лет - 245 млн долларов. Точность сигнала GPS 2F в два раза выше, чем у более ранних навигационных спутников. Кроме того, аппарат имеет переменную мощность, что позволяет повысить защищенность от помех в условиях подавления сигнала при боевых действиях.

В систему GPS входят около 30 функционирующих спутников.

http://itar-tass.com/nauka/1356390

[Space Alien]

[ВВК]

Benny пишет: 
Улетела! РД-180 отработал удачно

Мои поздравления НПО "Энергомаш"!

[ВВК]

Артём Жаров пишет:
в первой ступени которого установлен российский ракетный двигатель РД-180 НПО "Энергомаш". Нынешний запуск стал для Atlas 5 47-м.

[Space Alien]

07:23 ЛМВ + 03:24 (судя по циклограмме) = в 10:47 ЛМВ отделение. Прошло 20 минут как, ждем  :|  .

[Space Alien]

Успех !

United Launch Alliance Successfully Launches Two Rockets in Just Four Days


 A United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket carrying the seventh Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF (GPS IIF-7) satellite for the U.S. Air Force launched at 11:23 p.m. EDT yesterday from Space Launch Complex-41. This is the second successful ULA launch in just four days.

"Congratulations to the U.S. Air Force and all of our mission partners on the successful launch of the Atlas V carrying the GPS IIF-7 satellite," said Jim Sponnick, ULA vice president, Atlas and Delta Programs. "ULA launch vehicles have delivered all of the current generation of GPS satellites, which are providing ever-improving capabilities for users around the world."

This mission was launched aboard an Atlas V Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV) 401 configuration vehicle, which includes a 4-meter-diameter payload fairing.  The Atlas booster for this mission was powered by the RD AMROSS RD-180 engine, and the Centaur upper stage was powered by a single Aerojet Rocketdyne RL10A engine.

"This launch marks the third time this year ULA has successfully launched two missions within a week," said Sponnick "The ULA team's focus on mission success, one launch at a time, allows us to be ready when our customers are ready to launch."

GPS IIF-7 is the seventh in a series of next-generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth's surface. The GPS IIF series provides improved accuracy and enhanced performance for GPS users.

ULA's next launch is the Atlas V WorldView-3 mission for DigitalGlobe scheduled for Aug. 13 from Space Launch Complex-3 at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California.

The EELV program was established by the United States Air Force to provide assured access to space for Department of Defense and other government payloads. The commercially developed EELV program supports the full range of government mission requirements, while delivering on schedule and providing significant cost savings over the heritage launch systems.  

With more than a century of combined heritage, United Launch Alliance is the nation's most experienced and reliable launch service provider. ULA has successfully delivered more than 80 satellites to orbit that provide critical capabilities for troops in the field, aid meteorologists in tracking severe weather, enable personal device-based GPS navigation and unlock the mysteries of our solar system. ULA – Bringing rocket science down to Earth.

http://www.ulalaunch.com/ula-successfully-launches-gps-iif-7.aspx

[Space Alien]

Atlas V GPS IIF-7 Launch Highlights