Gallery
Colorado-based United Launch Alliance (ULA) sent one of their Atlas V 401 (flight number AV-055) rocket's to orbit with the tenth Block IIF GPS (GPS IIF-10) satellite on July 15, 2015. The mission got underway at 11:36 a.m. EDT (15:36 GMT) from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station's Space Launch Complex 41 (SLC-41). Once it had reached its intended destination at Medium Earth Orbit (MEO) the spacecraft was redubbed USA-262. Built by Boeing and based on the AS-4000 design, GPS IIF-10 has a planned mission life of some 12 years. The Atlas V 401 rocket that sent the satellite out of Earth's gravity well has a four meter payload fairing and used no Aerojet Rocketdyne AJ60A solid rocket motors on the launch vehicle's first stage. Photos courtesy: Jason Rhian, Carleton Bailie, Mike Howard, Michael Seeley
