United Launch Alliance successfully launched a Delta II expendable launch vehicle on Thursday, December 20th, from Space Launch Complex 17-A at 3:04 p.m., EST. Carried aloft was the Air Force’s GPS IIR-18(M) satellite. This launch marks the fifth mission for the Air Force this year and the 13th and final mission for ULA in 2007. Following a nominal 1 hour and 8 minute flight, the rocket deployed the GPS IIR-18(M) spacecraft. This is the fifth modernized NAVSTAR Global Positioning System Block II R-M military navigation satellite. Designed to operate for 10 years, GPS satellites orbit the Earth every 12 hours, emitting continuous navigation signals. With the proper equipment, users can receive these signals to calculate time, location and velocity.
The ULA Delta II 7925-9.5 configuration vehicle featured an ULA first stage booster powered by a Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne RS-27A main engine and nine Alliant Techsystems (ATK) strap-on solid rocket motors. An Aerojet AJ10-118K engine powered the second stage. A spin-stabilized Star-48B solid-rocket motor built by ATK boosted the third stage. The payload was encased by a 9.5-foot-diameter metallic payload fairing. ULA began processing the Delta II launch vehicle in Decatur, Alabama, nearly two years ago. Next year, ULA currently has 23 scheduled launches on the manifest from six launch complexes, which include 16 from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., and seven from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California—Cape Canaveral, Florida
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