The Air Force and its industry partners plan to launch the fourth Global Positioning System IIF satellite into orbit on Wednesday from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., announced service officials. Barring last-minute developments, a United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster is scheduled to carry the Boeing-built navigation satellite aloft during an 18-minute launch window that will start at 5:38 p.m. East Coast time on May 15, according to the service’s May 14 release. “We are looking forward to yet another successful launch; tremendous progress is being made with the GPS IIF space vehicles. The first three satellites are on-orbit and meeting all mission requirements and the atomic clocks on-board the payloads are providing the best accuracy ever,” said Col. Bernie Gruber, head of the service’s GPS directorate. GPS IIF-3, the previous satellite in the series, reached orbit last October.
Airmen and Guardians in the Active and Reserve component, as well as civilian employees, in “mission critical and high-risk populations” are now required to receive influenza vaccinations annually to “preserve force readiness,” according to a recent Department of the Air Force memo.