CAPE CANAVERAL, Florida – The launch of a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a GPS III SV04 satellite that was scheduled to liftoff on Friday, October 2, 2020, at 9:43 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida with a 15-minute launch window was scrubbed at the last second.
According to the latest forecast from the U.S. Space Force 45th Weather Squadron, there is a 70% chance of favorable weather for launch.
The primary weather concern is thick clouds.
Following stage separation, the first stage of the Falcon 9 Block 5 will attempt a landing on an autonomous drone ship Just Read The Instructions in the Atlantic Ocean.
GPS III SV04 is part of the U.S. Air Force’s third-generation Global Positioning Satellite constellation that provides positioning, navigation, and timing services with higher power and more accurate signals that are harder to jam.
Lockheed Martin developed and built GPS III that is more powerful than any GPS space vehicle previously launched.
GPS III provides 3x better accuracy for military users than any previous GPS satellite with enhanced anti-jamming capabilities.
GPS III is the first GPS satellite broadcasting a compatible signal with other international Global Navigation Satellite Systems, like Europe’s Galileo, improving connectivity for civilian users.
As the GPS satellite constellation’s modernization continues, after adding GPS III SV04, the four GPS III satellites on orbit will represent about 12 percent of the 31 satellites in the GPS constellation.
GPS III SV04 will be the 23rd M-Code enabled satellite in the constellation — just one short now of the 24 needed for global coverage. M-code is a more-secure, harder-to-jam, or spoof signal – and is invaluable to U.S. and allied military forces.
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