thank you america

[aido]

for maintaining the gps navstar system.
just launched the 50th satellite.

http://i.a.cnn.net/cnn/2004/TECH/space/03/21/delta2.launch.reut/story.vert.delta2.boeing.jpg

seems they wink out after a decade or so.

[Kerry]

It's being touted as the 50th GPS satellite but really there has now only been 48 as 2 were lost/destroyed during launch. 50th to be launched, yes but only the 48th that has got into orbit to form part of the system, #GPS I-7, one of the block I test satellites was lost on launch and GPS IIR-1 was lost along with the shuttle.

What we need is for some of the older satellites to start dying instead of living way past their design life as the more of the IIR's and better still the IIR-M's there is in orbit the better the system will become.

Cheers, Kerry.