USA-35, also known as Navstar 2-01, GPS II-1 and GPS SVN-14, was an American

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 formed 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 sy ...

. It was the first of nine

Block II Block or blocked may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Block programming, the result of a programming strategy in broadcasting * W242BX, a radio station licensed to Greenville, South Carolina, United States known as ''96.3 ...

GPS satellites to be launched, which were the first operational GPS satellites to be launched.

Background

It was one of the 21-satellite Global Positioning System (GPS) Block II series. When complete, the constellation will provide precise position data (accurate to within 16 m) to military and civilian users worldwide. Navstar signals can be received on devices as small as a telephone. The new generation Delta is 4.2 m taller and 13% more powerful than its predecessor. It can boost 3,982 kg into

low Earth orbit A low Earth orbit (LEO) is an orbit around Earth with a period of 128 minutes or less (making at least 11.25 orbits per day) and an eccentricity less than 0.25. Most of the artificial objects in outer space are in LEO, with an altitude never mor ...

, 1,447 kg into geotransfer orbit. The GPS II satellites, built by

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avionics and industrial products. R ...

for Air Force Space Systems Division, each have a 7.5-year design life. The Air Force intends to launch a GPS II every 2 to 3 months until the constellation of 21 operational satellites and 3 spares is aloft.

Launch

USA-35 was launched at 18:30 UTC on 14 February 1989, atop a

Delta II Delta II was an expendable launch system, originally designed and built by McDonnell Douglas. Delta II was part of the Delta rocket family and entered service in 1989. Delta II vehicles included the Delta 6000, and the two later Delta 7000 ...

launch vehicle, flight number D184, flying in the 6925-9.5 configuration. This was the maiden flight of the Delta II. The launch took place from Launch Complex 17A (LC-17A) at 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 ...

(CCAFS), and placed USA-35 into a transfer orbit. The satellite raised itself into

medium Earth orbit A medium Earth orbit (MEO) is an Earth-centered orbit with an altitude above a low Earth orbit (LEO) and below a high Earth orbit (HEO) – between above sea level.

using a Star-37XFP

apogee motor An apogee kick motor (AKM) is a rocket motor that is regularly employed on artificial satellites to provide the final impulse to change the trajectory from the transfer orbit into its final (most commonly circular) orbit. For a satellite laun ...

Mission

On 16 March 1989, USA-35 was in an 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 ell ...

of , 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 ell ...

of , a

period Period may refer to: Common uses * Era, a length or span of time * Full stop (or period), a punctuation mark Arts, entertainment, and media * Period (music), a concept in musical composition * Periodic sentence (or rhetorical period), a concept ...

of 713.2 minutes, and 55.1° of

inclination 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 Eart ...

to the equator. The satellite had a mass of , and generated 710 watts of power. It had a design life of 7.5 years; however, it operated until 26 March 2000, when its reaction wheels failed. It was decommissioned on 14 April 2000, having been replaced by

USA-150 USA-150, also known as GPS IIR-4 and GPS SVN-51, is an American navigation satellite which forms part of the Global Positioning System. It was the fourth GPS satellite blocks, Block IIR GPS satellite to be launched, out of thirteen in the origin ...

References

{{Orbital launches in 1989 GPS satellites USA satellites Spacecraft launched in 1989