CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — SpaceX has launched the U.S. Air Force’s most powerful GPS satellite ever built.
A Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Sunday, hoisting the satellite toward orbit.
The satellite was supposed to soar Tuesday but rocket concerns and then weather delayed the flight.
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Heather Wilson, secretary of the Air Force, says this next-generation GPS satellite is three times more accurate than previous versions and eight times better at anti-jamming. It's the first in a series and nicknamed Vespucci after the 15th-century Italian explorer who calculated Earth's circumference to within 50 miles (80 kilometers).
It was SpaceX’s 21st and final launch of the year, a company record.