The twenty-eighth and final
satellite of the U.S. Air Force’s NAVSTAR Global Positioning System
Block IIA program will be launched here tomorrow, Nov. 4, The Boeing
Company said today.
“The last Block IIA satellite will be placed in orbit by a Delta II
launch vehicle,” said Rich Arras, Global Positioning System (GPS)
director for Boeing. “This marks the first time a satellite and rocket
will fly together under the Boeing name.”
The Boeing rocket that will boost the final GPS Block IIA satellite into
orbit is the Delta II — a member of the reliable workhorse family of
Delta expendable launch vehicles that have logged more than 234
successful launches since 1960.
The launch also coincides with the Company’s work on the preliminary
phases of its next GPS contract. That contract, awarded in April 1996
and valued at $1.3 billion, calls for up to 33 advanced Block IIF GPS
satellites to be constructed through the year 2012. The first is
scheduled to be launched in 2001.
GPS is the world’s premier navigation satellite system. The system
operates via a constellation of 24 satellites (not including spares), a
ground control system, and thousands of terminals that provide civilian
and military users in the air, at sea, and on the ground their precise
position on the Earth’s surface. The system is available to properly
equipped users around the world – day and night, in all weather
conditions.
“We’re very proud of the record the GPS system has compiled,” added
Arras. “Collectively, the satellites have totaled more than 140 years
of on-orbit service; we’re looking forward to adding to that total
during Block IIF.”
Boeing involvement in GPS began in 1974 when it won government contracts
to build 11 developmental satellites and thousands of receiver sets.
Under a $1.35 billion contract awarded in 1983, Boeing built a total of
40 Block I, II, and IIA satellites – including a next generation
prototype and 28 Block IIA production satellites.
Boeing assumed responsibility for the GPS program in December 1996 with
the acquisition of the aerospace and defense businesses of Rockwell
International; the Company acquired the Delta launch vehicle business
upon its merger with McDonnell Douglas in August of this year. The
Delta vehicles are built in Huntington Beach, Calif.; the GPS satellites
in nearby Seal Beach, Calif.
