Satellite operators at Schriever Air Force Base, Colo., accepted command and control of the first GPS 2F satellite Aug. 25 following a three-month check-out period, the U.S. Air Force announced Aug. 25.
After years of delay, the first GPS 2F satellite was launched May 27 aboard a Delta 4 rocket. The service’s Global Positioning Systems Wing completed on-orbit testing of the spacecraft and handed it over to the 50th Space Wing’s 2nd Space Operations Squadron, the press release said.
Boeing Space and Intelligence Systems of Seal Beach, Calif., is building 12 GPS 2F satellites for the Air Force. The satellites feature longer design lives than previous GPS craft, more sophisticated atomic clocks for improved accuracy, and a new civil signal that will be used for aviation and safety-of-life applications.
