United Launch Alliance Atlas V Successfully Blasts Off From Cape Canaveral

By  //  February 5, 2016

from Space Launch Complex-41

A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 successfully launched the GPS IIF-12 mission for the U.S. Air Force at 8:38 a.m. on Friday morning. (ULA image)
A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 successfully launched the GPS IIF-12 mission for the U.S. Air Force at 8:38 a.m. on Friday morning. (ULA image)

BREVARD COUNTY • KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, FLORIDA – A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 successfully launched the GPS IIF-12 mission for the U.S. Air Force at 8:38 a.m. on Friday morning from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The launch was the final in a series of GPS satellites designed to make life easier for the military and civilians.

 GPS satellites serve and protect our warfighters by providing navigational assistance for U.S. military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. Civilian users around the world also use and depend on GPS for highly accurate time, location and velocity information.

GPS IIF-12 is one of the next-generation GPS satellites, incorporating various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users.

GPS IIF-12 was ULA’s first mission of 2016 and the 60th operational GPS mission to launch on a ULA or heritage rocket.

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The Air Force will launch the GPS III satellites starting in 2017.

Formed in December 2006, ULA brings together two of the launch industry’s most experienced and successful teams – Atlas and Delta – to provide reliable, cost-efficient space launch services for the U.S. government.

U.S. government launch customers include the Department of Defense, NASA, the National Reconnaissance Office and other organizations.

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