spacetoday.net: Space Force delays GPS launch because of pandemic

Space Force delays GPS launch because of pandemic

Posted: Fri, Apr 10, 2020, 6:58 PM ET (2258 GMT)
The US Space Force said Thursday it's delaying a GPS satellite launch by two months because of the coronavirus pandemic. The Falcon 9 launch of the third GPS 3 satellite, which had been scheduled for late April, has been pushed back to no earlier than June 30. The Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) decided that the current GPS constellation with 31 satellites in orbit is providing adequate services, so taking a pause in launches would not affect operations and allows the range to focus on the health of the workforce. SMC said it still plans to complete the next three GPS launches in 2020.