The Air Force has to change the ground control segment for the Global Positioning System satellites (see above) because the current system simply can’t handle the various generations of GPS sats flying now and in the near future. Talking with reporters this week, Lt. Gen. Michael Hamel, head of Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., said: “The ground control segment for GPS actually has to be able to control satellites of many different generations; today we have GPS II-As, IIR satellites, [and] we’re bringing in a new generation of [Block] IIFs on orbit. It also has to be able to manage the navigation mission packages and performance seamlessly across all of those.” He likened the transition to the new computer system to “changing the engine on a car that’s heading down the freeway at 65 miles an hour.”
Celebrating 100 Years of Liquid-Fueled Rockets
March 11, 2026
March 16, 2026, marks 100 years since Dr. Robert H. Goddard launched the world’s first liquid-fueled rocket. Over the past century, new and ever more capable liquid-fueled rockets have literally propelled humanity into space. Why liquid-fueled rockets?