Atlas V blasts off from Cape Canaveral
Scott Powers
Delayed by a day due to a fuel leak spotted on Thusday, an Atlas V rocket blasted off smoothly from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station Saturday afternoon, sending an Air Force navigation satellite into space.
The rocket lifted off on time at 12:13 p.m. under perfect Florida skies., marking the 102ndconsecutive time United Launch Alliance has successfully luanched one of its rockets, going back to 2002.
The Air Force's GPS IIF-11 communications satellite is part of a constellation of next-generation GPS technology satellites.
This is the third such satellite launched this year on a United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket. Atlas Vs carrying Air Force GPS IIF satellites also went up in March and July. There is one more such satellite planned to complete the constellation.
Made by Boeing, the GPS IIF satellites weigh about 3,600 pounds. They have location accuracy of about a meter, and time accuracy of a billionth of a second, providing greater accuracy, increased signals and better performance than old GPS satellites.
This is the last launch scheduled at the cape until Dec. 3, when Orbital ATK will resume its resupply missions to the International Space Station, following a 14-month grounding. The Orbital cargo capsule will group on another Atlas V. Also around that time, though not yet scheduled, Space will resume launching its Falcon 9 rockets, ending a five-month grounding. Both Orbital and SpaceX saw their last rockets blow up.
Space Florida, the state space-industry development corporation, and Florida's Space Coast Office of Tourism are organizing a launch watch party Friday at the Coconuts On The Beach restaurant in Cocoa Beach.
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