Delays in the launch of the Air Force’s first two Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program satellites, originally scheduled for July 23, may impact United Launch Alliance’s ability to launch the GPS IIF-7 satellite on July 31, Air Force Space Command officials said Friday. Col. Bill Cooley, director of the Global Positioning System Directorate, said balancing the Air Force priorities with launch sustainability is key. “It’s always a compromise in discussion between the constellation sustainment and the launch manifest, and so those decisions have yet to be made,” Cooley said. After repeated delays, the GSSAP launch is now scheduled for Monday evening. The GPS IIF-7 is slated to leave from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., July 31 with a launch window beginning at 11:27 p.m.
The latest round of environmental sampling for the Air Force’s Missile Community Cancer Study found trace amounts of potentially harmful chemicals called volatile organic compounds in the service’s ICBM facilities, but not at levels that would pose a health hazard, Air Force Global Strike Command announced Oct. 22.