The Air Force successfully launched the eighth GPS IIF satellite Wednesday. The vehicle departed Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., at 1:22 p.m., traveling aboard an Atlas V launch vehicle powered by an RD-180 engine. It was the fourth GPS IIF launch this year, pushing the Air Force to its “highest GPS launch tempo in over 20 years,” Col. Bill Cooley, AFSPC’s director of the Global Positioning Systems Directorate, said during an Oct. 24 teleconference. It also makes the 50th flight of United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V vehicle. The launch took place as planned, despite concerns by some in the community that the failed launch of an Orbital Science Antares rocket late Tuesday may impact the GPS IIF launch. “We have a legacy to be very proud of and we will continue to live up to our commitments by sustaining and enhancing GPS mission capabilities to ensure we continue to deliver a healthy, stable, and robust GPS constellation for users around the world,” Cooley added in an Oct. 28 release.
L3Harris Wins Contract to Upgrade Counter Space Systems
Oct. 27, 2021
L3 Harris Technologies received a $120.8 million contract to upgrade 16 Under the contract, L3 Harris will upgrade 16 Counter Communications Block 10.2 systems fielded at Peterson Space Force Base, Colo.; Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif.; Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.; as well as at classified locations outside the…