The Air Force and Boeing completed on-orbit checkout and validation of
the sixth Global Positioning System IIF navigation satellite, announced the company on Wednesday. The Air Force and its industry partners launched this satellite
into space in May. With this testing done, Boeing has reached the
halfway mark in delivering GPS IIF satellites to the Air Force,
states the company’s June 25 release. “We have built all 12 GPS IIF
satellites using our advanced production processes, with the spacecraft
ready to launch on request by the Air Force,” said Craig Cooning, the
company’s vice president for
space and intelligence systems. “We’re also continuing to work with the
Air Force to improve the efficiency of our final checkouts before launch
and on orbit, ensuring each GPS IIF enters operation smoothly and
quickly,” he said. The next
GPS IIF is scheduled for launch into orbit later this year, states the
release.
