CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Another navigation spacecraft was successfully launched into Earth orbit Monday riding atop an Air Force Delta 2 rocket on a $90 million satellite delivery mission.  Planned to fly long before Operation Iraqi Freedom materialized, the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite is expected to be operational in less than 30 days.  GPS-2R9, it was launched to replace an early Navstar model that was sent into space 13 years ago and now is at the end of its useful lifetime.

"The launch of 2R9 continues the success story of our replenishment launches to maintain the GPS constellation for our government and commercial users," said Col. Allan Ballenger, system program director at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.

The $2.5 billion constellation of 28 Navstar GPS satellites send out signals that are received by military and civil users around the world to provide information on where they are on the planet, accurate time, what direction they are moving and how fast they are going.  GPS satellite receivers now can be found on the shelves of consumer electronics stores; or on the dashboards of civilian cars, trucks and minivans.

Despite the war in Iraq and the availability of the free GPS signal to anyone with a receiver, Air Force officials have said there are no plans to restrict access to the civil signal.

SPACE SHOT
Liftoff of the Boeing-built, three-stage Delta 2 rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station came at 5:09 p.m. EST (2209 GMT), delayed to the end of a 15-minute launch window because of a last minute technical problem with the Eastern Test Range.  Gusting surface winds were a concern until the blast off into chilly blue skies as Florida's Space Coast was experiencing what weather officials called the final wintertime blast of cold air.

The workhorse Delta 2 rocket appeared to go through its usual launch sequence without incident.  First its main engine and six of nine strap-on solid rocket boosters ignited to send the  13-story rocket skyward. About a minute later the remaining three boosters fired and the first six dropped away.

After a minute or so, the three boosters extinguished and were  jettisoned, by which time the Delta 2 was quickly moving from sight of ground-based eyewitnesses.  One hour and eight minutes after liftoff, the Lockheed Martin-built GPS spacecraft separated from the Delta 2 upper stage and the launch phase of the mission was declared a success.

"It was a flawless launch," said Will Trafton, vice president and general manager of Boeing Expendable Launch Systems. "We've got a great team here at the Cape... and they've done it once again."

The launch marked the 49th time a Navstar GPS was sent into orbit from the Cape -- something that launch site workers are particularly proud of.  "The control of the battlefield does start here," said Lt. Col. Brad Broemmel, the 45th Space Wing's 1st Space Launch Squadron commander at the air station.  "GPS is like water. Our combat forces don't go anywhere without it now, and we'd like to think that the 45th Space Wing is the tap. We want to keep that tap open, that's what  assured access to space means," Broemmel said.

LOOK AHEAD
Another launch like Monday's is targeted for July when the Air Force is to launch GPS-2R10, Ballenger said.  Then a year later, around July 2004, the Air Force will begin a series of launches to send eight upgraded GPS spacecraft into orbit.  These are called the GPS-2RM spacecraft -- with the "M" standing for modernized.  The newer spacecraft will feature additional military and civilian signals, as well as increased power for the military signal.

After that will be another series of follow-on spacecraft known as the GPS-2F, Ballenger said, which in turn will pave the way for the next generation of navigation satellites that will be called GPS-3.  First launch of those spacecraft is now expected in the 2012 timeframe, but there are  discussions of accelerating that program by possibly a year or two, Ballenger said.

The following comments have been extracted from news articles that appeared on  www.space.com and the Johnny Appleseed GPS website: www.ja-gps.com.au.

US air strikes have destroyed six devices aimed at jamming the Global Positioning System (GPS) signals used by US forces in their campaign in Iraq, a senior commander said Tuesday. Washington had accused Russia of supplying jamming equipment to the Iraqis, raising tensions between the two countries.

Major General Victor Renuart, Director of Operations for the US Central Command (Centcom), said the jammers had been supplied by outside countries but did not name Russia specifically. "I am happy to report that we have destroyed all six of those jammers in the last two days of air strikes," Renuart told reporters at Centcom's forward command post here.

Major-General Stanley McChrystal, a senior Pentagon official, said Monday the United States had known for some time the jammers might be employed to interfere with equipment used in military action on Iraq. But he said that tests and actual practice had shown "they are not having a negative effect on the air campaign at this point." The White House said Monday it had "credible evidence" of Russian companies selling Iraq night-vision goggles, anti-tank weapons, and technology to jam satellite signals that US-led forces could use to guide bombs and military aircraft.

President Bush raised concerns during a March 24 telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin that a Russian company had provided GPS jamming equipment to the Iraqi military, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer told reporters during a March 24 briefing at the White House.  Putin assured Bush he would “look into it,” Fleischer said.

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