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USA-289, also known as GPS-III SV01 or Vespucci, is a
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
navigation satellite
A satellite navigation or satnav system is a system that uses satellites to provide autonomous geo-spatial positioning. It allows satellite navigation devices to determine their location (longitude, latitude, and altitude/elevation) to high pre ...
which forms part of the Global Positioning System
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite ...
. It was the first GPS Block III satellite to be launched.
Satellite
SV01 is the first GPS Block III satellite to be launched. Ordered in 2008 and originally intended to be launched in 2014, numerous technical delays pushed launch back to 2018. The spacecraft is built on theLockheed Martin A2100
The A2100 is a model of communications satellite spacecraft made by Lockheed Martin Space Systems. It is used as the foundation for telecommunications payloads in geosynchronous orbit, as well as GOES-R weather satellites and GPS Block IIIA satell ...
satellite bus, and weighs in at 4,400kg (9,700lbs), making SV01 the heaviest GPS satellite ever launched.
Launch
USA-289 was launched bySpaceX
Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX) is an American spacecraft manufacturer, launcher, and a satellite communications corporation headquartered in Hawthorne, California. It was founded in 2002 by Elon Musk with the stated goal o ...
on 23 December 2018 at 13:51 UTC atop expendable Falcon 9
Falcon 9 is a partially reusable medium lift launch vehicle that can carry cargo and crew into Earth orbit, produced by American aerospace company SpaceX.
The rocket has two stages. The first (booster) stage carries the second stage and pay ...
booster B1054. The launch took place from SLC-40 of the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station
Cape Canaveral Space Force Station (CCSFS) is an installation of the United States Space Force's Space Launch Delta 45, located on Cape Canaveral in Brevard County, Florida.
Headquartered at the nearby Patrick Space Force Base, the statio ...
, and placed USA-289 directly into semi-synchronous orbit.
Orbit
As of 2021, USA-289 was in a 55-degreeinclination
Orbital inclination measures the tilt of an object's orbit around a celestial body. It is expressed as the angle between a reference plane and the orbital plane or axis of direction of the orbiting object.
For a satellite orbiting the Ea ...
orbit with a perigee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any el ...
of 20,158 kilometers (12,525 miles) and an apogee
An apsis (; ) is the farthest or nearest point in the orbit of a planetary body about its primary body. For example, the apsides of the Earth are called the aphelion and perihelion.
General description
There are two apsides in any el ...
of 20,222 kilometers (12,565 miles). The satellite is the first GPS satellite to be able to broadcast the civilian L1C signal.
References