A United Launch Alliance Atlas V 401 will launch the GPS IIF-12 mission for the U.S. Air Force on Friday, Feb. 5, 2016, from Space Launch Complex-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida. The 18-minute launch window opens at 5:39 a.m. PST.
United Launch Alliance (ULA) is a partnership between Boeing and Lockheed Martin.
GPS IIF-12 is the last of the GPS IIF series of satellites. The GPS IIF satellites were built by the Boeing Co in El Segundo, California. Prior to Block IIF, from 1997 and 2009 the GPS Block IIM and Block IIR series were launched; these were built by the Lockheed Martin Co. Prior to that, Boeing-built GPS Block IIA satellites were launched between 1990 and 1997. The Block IIA were actually built by Rockwell, which was later acquired by Boeing. They were built here in Seal Beach, down the street at the corner of Seal Beach Boulevard and Westminster Avenue, where the current Boeing facility used to be a Rockwell satellite factory but is now mainly commercial aircraft customer support services. All the tooling and factory equipment was moved to the El Segundo satellite development center after the Boeing acquisition.
The government seems to like to switch back and forth between satellite contractors. The next series, GPS IIIA, is being built by Lockheed Martin and is expected to start launching no earlier than 2017. Will it be Boeing's turn again for the next series after that? Only time will tell!