China News Service, Houston, November 5th. On November 5th local time, SpaceX (SpaceX) sent a global positioning satellite (GPSIII-SV04) of the US Space Force into orbit.
Data map: Falcon 9 rocket of SpaceX.
Image source: ICphoto
Science and technology media "Space" news, at 6:24 pm Eastern time, SpaceX's "Falcon 9" rocket was launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida to lift the US Space Force GPSIII -SV04 satellite is sent into orbit.
Nine minutes later, the first stage of the rocket fell back to the rocket recovery deck on the Atlantic Ocean.
According to the Associated Press, the US military plans to launch 10 GPSIII global positioning satellites into orbit to replace the aging global positioning satellite constellation.
This launch is the fourth satellite.
Lockheed Martin of the United States is the main contractor of the satellite, and plans to launch and launch the next six satellites before 2023.
The company said that the series of satellites began to be launched into orbit at the end of 2018.
The service life of GPSIII is 15 years.
Lockheed Martin also signed a contract with the US military for 22 enhanced satellites GPSIIIF.
According to the "Orlando Sentinel" report, the launch mission was postponed since October this year.
On October 2, the two engines of the "Falcon 9" rocket automatically stopped working a few seconds before liftoff.
During SpaceX's investigation, it was discovered that the valve ventilation lines of the rocket's two Merlin1D engines were blocked by a masking paint similar to nail polish, and the vents were 0.06 inches (1.6 mm) wide.
SpaceX said the two engines have been replaced.
It is worth noting that SpaceX also found the same traces of paint on the engines of two other "Falcon 9" rockets, one was used to launch the "Sentinel 6" Earth observation satellite, the other was used to launch The rocket for the manned mission "Astronaut 1".
The latter is scheduled to be launched from launch pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida on November 14. It is planned to send four astronauts to the International Space Station and stay for six months.
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