Featured Image Source: SpaceX

The United States Space Force contracted SpaceX's services to launch its new-generation series Global Positioning System satellites, GPS III. On June 30, SpaceX deployed the third GPS III Space Vehicle 03 (SV03) successfully, now the company is scheduled to deploy the fourth satellite referred to as GPS III Space Vehicle 04 (SV04). A Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to liftoff from Space Launch Complex 40 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida carrying the satellite to orbit sometime towards the end of this month, on September 30^th or October 1^st [time pending].

The $500 million satellite, manufactured by Lockheed Martin, is designed to upgrade the United States' GPS navigation constellation. “The Global Positioning System signal and service need to be protected based on the importance of GPS to national security, civil services, and the economic benefits to the nation,” the United States Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper said earlier this year. The satellites beam GPS signals to airplanes, road vehicles, bank ATMs, even weapons that are controlled by computerized systems. The U.S Space Force says the GPS III will aid with new civil and warfighting capabilities by 2023 – “GPS delivers the gold standard of space-based positioning, navigation, and timing services vital to U.S. and allied operations worldwide, and underpins critical financial, transportation, and agricultural infrastructure that more than four billion users have come to depend on daily.”

The satellites are designed to operate in Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) at an altitude of approximately 20,200 kilometers (12,550 miles) above Earth. “Once on-orbit, [Space Vehicle 04] it will join the operational constellation of 31 GPS satellites, delivering enhanced resiliency, better accuracy, and advanced anti-jam capabilities,” Air Force representatives wrote in a press release. Each satellite in the GPS network circles the Earth twice a day to provide time and positioning services globally for the military, as well as civilian users. The GPS constellation operates in six equally-spaced orbital planes consisting of four GPS satellites each, orbiting around the planet.

Source: Los Angeles Air Force

On July 14, the GPS III Space Vehicle 04 satellite was delivered to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station where it is undergoing pre-launch preparations ahead of launch (photo above). According to a military press release, the satellite was processed at the Astrotech Space Operations facility in Florida to ensure the satellite functions properly. “The shipment of the fourth GPS III satellite was successfully conducted just two weeks after the launch of our GPS III-SV03 satellite. This operation is a remarkable achievement and testament to the hard work of the entire GPS team members from all across the country,” Colonel Edward Byrne, Space Force’s Medium Earth Orbit Space Systems Division Chief stated. “The delivery of SV04 marks the start of our third GPS III launch campaign on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and brings us another step closer in advancing the GPS constellation with more capable satellites,” he added. In the weeks ahead, crews will conduct final preparations to insert the satellite atop the rocket.