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Military GPS satellite launches at Cape Canaveral

TBO.com photo by DEBBIE SWARTZ

The trail of a Delta 2 rocket launched from Cape Canaveral early this morning was visible from the Howard Frankland Bridge across Tampa Bay.

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The Associated Press

Published: August 17, 2009

CAPE CANAVERAL - A new military global positioning satellite is heading to orbit after a dawn lift off from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The two-ton satellite lifted off aboard a Delta 2 rocket on Monday around 6:30 a.m. An hour after launch, it moved into a highly elliptical orbit to replace a decade-old GPS 2R-21 spacecraft that will be used as a backup for the new satellite.

The information beamed from the satellite will be used to help the military with field operations and other navigational applications.

This was the last Delta 2 launch that will be done for the Air Force and the last of the GPS 2R satellites to go into orbit

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