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.
It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.