The United States military agreement with SpaceX has been amended to allow future launches using the Falcon 9 booster, saving the U.S. tens of millions of dollars.
U.S. The GPS Kahid Martin built GPS is powered by the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center. A series of III satellites have traditionally been launched on new spenders. The first two GPS III spacecraft launched on an expensive Falcon 9 and the United Launch Alliance (ULA) Atlas V rocket.
By amending the previous agreement, the Falcon 9 boosters were allowed to attempt to land GPS III objectives. In June, a third GPS III vehicle was launched on Falcon 9 from the Space Complex 40 (SLC-40) at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. It was the first time a booster carrying a GPS III vehicle had been found again.
Dr. Walt Luddardel of the Space and Missile Systems Center Falcon Systems, “I am proud of our partnership with SpaceX that has allowed us to successfully negotiate contract changes for the upcoming GPS III mission, which taxpayers. Will save 52.7 million, while maintaining an unprecedented record of our success, ”said Dr. Walt Luddardel, Head of the Space and Missile Systems Center Falcon Systems and rations Operations Department. A statement from the Space Force’s Space and Missile Systems Center said.
Gwynn Shotwell, President and Chief Operating Operator of SpaceX, commented, “U.S. We appreciate the efforts that Space Force has made in evaluating and they are happy to see the benefits of the technology. Our extensive experience with reuse has allowed SpaceX to constantly upgrade the fleet and save significant valuable tax dollars on these launches. ”
A new change to the GPS III launch services agreement allows the Falcon 9 boosters not only to recover but to launch on previously booster boosters. However, this update will only be effective for future launches of GPS III SV05 and SV06 satellites.
GPS on reusable Falcon 9 The launch of the III series of satellites was originally planned to begin in 2021 during Phase 2 of the Launch Services Agreement. U.S. The current agreement with Space Force will be completed with the launch of the GPS III SV06 satellite. 2021. Phases 2 of the National Security Space Launch Program for the remaining four GPS III satellites have not yet been awarded and will be bid for by both SpaceX and ULA.
From SPC-40 on Tuesday 29 September, GPS. The next launch of the III SV04 satellite will use the new brand 9 booster (B1062). Fresh Falcon 9 conducted a healthy steady fire test of its nine Merlin 1D engines on the early morning of Friday, September 25th. Later that evening the encapsulated payload was captured by a Twitter user Goliar 88 During the transfer from its nearest processing facility to Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, the Falcon 9 will be mated with a booster.
All should now proceed as nominees and launch the GPS III SV04 mission at the end of the launch date, September 29 (0155-0210 UTC Sept. 30) during the window on Tuesday from 9: 55-10: 10 to EDT. The 45th Weather Squadron predicts that the weather will be mostly favorable with a 70% chance of acceptable conditions at the time of launch. If 24 hours of recycling is required the weather improves slightly up to 80%.
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