US: The recently launched US Air Force’s fifth GPS Block IIF navigation satellite has sent initial signals from space. The satellite has joined four other advanced versions of the spacecraft that are improving position, navigation and timing information for millions of civilian and military users around the world. GPS IIF-5, launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket and Boeing, received the satellite's first signals approximately three and a half hours later. It will undergo on-orbit activation, checkout and testing before being handed over to the US Air Force which operates the GPS system, in March. This was the first GPS IIF satellite launch of 2014. The sixth GPS IIF is at the Florida launch site undergoing preparations for a second quarter launch. The remaining six are at the Boeing Satellite Development Center in El Segundo, California.
Source: India times
