Tenth GPS IIF Launched from the Cape

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.)