After a series of rescheduled launch dates, U.S. Air Force officials have placed the final two GPS Block IIR-M satellites on “indefinite” status due to faulty components in Delta rockets.
In a response to inquiries from Inside GNSS, spokespersons for the GPS Wing at the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles Air Force Base, and Launch and Range Space Wing said that “based on the parts production and qualification schedule, we project the GPS IIR launches will occur in Spring and Summer 2009.” The United States has to meet an August 26, 2009 deadline for the L5 signal transmission from orbiting satellites in order to meet a requirement set by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
