The tenth GPS IIF satellite successfully launched
aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla.,
on July 15, according to a
release. The
satellite will join the constellation of 31 operational GPS satellites already
on orbit. “If you go to Shriever Air Force Base, [Colo.], and you walk into the
2nd Space Operations Squadron, in a little room you’ll find seven airmen.
[Their] average age will be 23 years old,” said Air Force Space Command boss
Gen. John Hyten, who attended the launch. “Those airmen are providing
everything that is GPS for the entire world. Everything ... That’s pretty
amazing.”
Brig.
Gen. Nina Armagno served as the mission’s launch decision authority for the
final time before her change of command on Aug. 4. “I have had the privilege of
working with the greatest space team ever assembled for the past two-plus
years. [They are] highly motivated, very well trained, remarkably innovative,
and always able to keep their focus on the mission in front of them,” she said. (
Boeing release.)
