On Friday, May 30, the GPS III SV08 satellite, also known as GPS III-7, is scheduled to be launched from Space Launch Complex 40 (SLC-40) at 10:23 AM – 10:38 AM PDT from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
This launch is part of the U.S. Space Force’s efforts to enhance the GPS network, and the satellite is designed for greater accuracy and more powerful signals.
This is the second high-profile national security mission that shifted from United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan to SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket. Space Force officials said the mission was executed on an unusually accelerated timeline. This is as ULA’s Vulcan continues to face delays and has accumulated a backlog of military launches.
The move comes as GPS signals face increasing threats from both nation-state actors and inadvertent commercial interference.
The forecast calls for a temperature of 87°F, broken clouds, 80% cloud cover and a wind speed of 12mph.
