Live Update 
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 23, 2018
From the Liveblog of
Sunday, December 23, 2018
SpaceX launches US Air Force’s ‘best GPS yet,’ ends banner year
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleSpaceX has launched the US Air Force’s most powerful GPS satellite ever built.
A Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida, hoisting the satellite toward orbit.
The satellite was supposed to soar Tuesday but rocket concerns and then weather delayed the flight.
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 is SpaceX’s 21st and final launch of the year, a company record.
— AP
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