SpaceX launches GPS 3 satellite

The U.S. Space Force sent its ninth third-generation Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite into medium Earth orbit on Tuesday night. The satellite rode to space on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket after the government moved the spacecraft from a United Launch Alliance Vulcan rocket.

The mission, named GPS 3-9, saw the GPS 3 Space Vehicle 09 (SV09) payload deploy from the rocket’s upper stage nearly 1.5 hours after liftoff. This latest positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) satellite is equipped with what the Space Force calls M-Code technology, which it calls critical to “provide the warfighter with a significantly more accurate and jam-resistant capability.”

Two field commands were overseeing the mission: the Space Force’s Space Systems Command (SSC) and Combat Forces Command (CFC). SSC’s System Delta 80 (SYD 80) helps manage the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) program, the procurement process for launch vehicles; and CFC’s Mission Delta 31 is responsible for pre-launch satellite processing alongside Lockheed Martin, the satellite’s manufacturer.
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Departure from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station happened at 11:53:16 p.m. EST on Tuesday, Jan. 27 (0453:16 UTC on Jan. 28). The launch was delayed a day from Jan. 25, with SpaceX stating in a tweet that it was “keeping an eye on recovery weather.” The mission was delayed again from Monday night to Tuesday with the 45th Weather Squadron forecasting just a 40 percent chance for acceptable weather on Monday.

Source: Spaceflightnow