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31.07.2014
An Atlas V four-meter diameter payload fairing, with the Air Force's seventh Global Positioning System IIF (GPS IIF-7) satellite encapsulated inside is mated to its Atlas V booster at the Vertical Integration Facility (VIF) at Launch Complex-41.
(Photo: USAF Kenny Allen)
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Following a readiness review today, United Launch Alliance and the Air Force are "go" to proceed toward an 11:23 p.m. Friday launch of an Atlas V rocket and Global Positioning System satellite.
The 189-foot Atlas V is scheduled to roll from a processing tower to its Launch Complex 41 pad on Thursday morning.
Friday's forecast looks fine, with a 70 percent chance of favorable weather during an 18-minute window at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The GPS IIF-7 mission seeks to deploy the seventh in a series of 12 next-generation GPS satellites, and the third of four scheduled to launch this year.
The launch comes just four days after ULA's successful Monday evening flight of a Delta IV rocket and military surveillance satellites on that mission's fifth launch attempt, after stormy weather scrubbed several countdowns.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Quelle: USAF
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Update: 1.08.2014
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Atlas V, Falcon 9 rockets on the move at Cape
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V rocket rolled to its Launch Complex 41 pad this morning for an 11:23 p.m. Friday liftoff with a Global Positioning System satellite.
The 19-story rocket began rolling from its processing tower, called the Vertical Integration Facility, or VIF, around 8 a.m. and completed the move in just under an hour.
The latest forecast has improved to an 80 percent chance of favorable weather during the mission's 18-minute window at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
Meanwhile, at neighboring Launch Complex 40 to the south, a SpaceX Falcon 9 will roll from a hangar to its pad today for a practice countdown, fueling and brief engine test-firing culminating at 8 p.m. today.
That's all preparation for SpaceX's launch next week of the AsiaSat 8 commercial communications satellite, which is now planned early Tuesday, a day later than previously scheduled.
The change gives the Atlas V two launch attempts Friday and Saturday, if necessary, before turning the Eastern Range over to SpaceX.
The Falcon 9 launch is targeted for 1:25 a.m. Tuesday, the opening of a two-hour window. It's the first of two launches SpaceX plans this month for Hong Kong-based AsiaSat.
Quelle: Florida Today
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Update: 13.55 MESZ
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Update: 2.08.2014
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Launch of GPS IIF-7 on a Atlas V 401 rocket from Cape Canaveral AFB, FL launch complex LC-41
Launch scheduled for 2 Aug 14 3:23:00 GMT
Local Time : 1 Aug 14 23:23:00 EDT
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster will launch the seventh of the new GPS system Block 2F for the USAF. The rocket will fly in the 401 vehicle configuration with a four-meter fairing, no solid rocket boosters and a single-engine Centaur upper stage. This will be the second GPS IIF satellite to be launched on the Atlas V platform, the previous satellites have been mostly deployed via Delta IV boosters.
GPS IIF-7 is one of the next generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.
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Quelle: AS
Quelle: ulalaunch
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