The online version of the Daily Report Friday covered the successful launch of the newest GPS satellite, Boeing’s Block IIF from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., at 11 p.m. EDT May 27 aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV expendable launch vehicle. Of note, it was the 349th successful launch in the 50-year history of Delta ELVs, reported ULA. In a May 28 release, Boeing announced that it had acquired the first on-orbit signals from the GPS IIF-1. The company said the satellite is ready to begin “months of” orbital maneuvers and operational testing. Craig Cooning, vice president and general manager, Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems, said, “The inaugural launch of the GPS IIF-1 is a milestone in Boeing’s 30 years of support to the Air Force that goes back to the first days of this program.” The second GPS IIF is scheduled for launch later this year.
Pentagon leaders, eager to move fast and avoid pitfalls that have plagued defense acquisition in the past, are handing authorities and oversight for some of their biggest programs to officers outside the traditional structure. But the Air Force and Space Force four-stars given those responsibilities say they don’t intend their jobs to be a permanent change to the system.