On Aug. 1, 2014, from Space Launch Complex (SLC)-41 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, the United Launch Alliance oversaw the launch of an Atlas V 401 rocket that delivered a satellite into orbit for the U.S. Air Force.

The payload was the GPS IIF-7, a next-generation satellite that will aid civilians and military operations with Global Positioning Systems (GPS). The GPS IIF-7 incorporates various improvements to provide greater accuracy, increased signals, and enhanced performance for users. GPS satellites provide navigational assistance for U.S. military operations on land, at sea, and in the air. Civilian users around the world also use and depend on GPS for highly accurate time, location, and velocity information.

“GPS is a system of satellites, ground stations and user equipment that produce the signals needed to enable positioning, navigation and timing services to users worldwide,” Col. Bill Cooley, director of the Global Positioning System Directorate, told reporters last week. “The GPS constellation is healthy, robust and more capable than it has ever been in GPS history.”

GPS IIF-7 will be the ninth of 15 planned missions ULA is slated to launch in 2014, and ULA’s 86th since the company formed in 2006. The GPS IIF-7 will replace one of the oldest satellites currently operating in the GPS constellation network that constantly scans and analyzes the Earth. The functions of GPS IIF-7 will be accessible by all potential users, military and civilian alike, and are free to the public.

GPS satellites within the network can orbit Earth within 12 hours, and each satellite is synchronized to relay a signal to the surface of the globe. When at least four satellites make contact with a user, the relative information from the network can pinpoint the location of the user accurately, often times within meters of the user’s true location.