Feb 14 1989
From The Space Library
The Air Force successfully launched the first of its new Delta 2 launch vehicles, carrying a $65 million NAVSTAR satellite into a preliminary elliptical orbit. The NAVSTAR, the first operational satellite of the Global Positioning System (GPS), subsequently boosted itself into an 11,000 mile circular orbit. The 21-satellite GPS network was expected to provide very precise positioning data for U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) troops and vehicles throughout the world. The satellites would also broadcast precise positioning data to civilian users. (SSR 1989 013A; UPI, Feb 14/89; W Post, Feb 15/89; NY Times, Feb 15/89; LA Times, Feb 15/89; W Times, Feb 15/89; USA Today, Feb 15/89; P Inq, Feb 15/89; W Times, Feb 17/89)
The U.S. Government released results of a six-month interagency study on orbital debris. The study, cochaired by NASA and the Department of Defense, cited satellite and rocket body fragmentation as the principal source of orbital debris and concluded that, left unchecked, the growth of debris could threaten the safe and reliable operation of crew-tended and untended spacecraft in the next century. (NASA Release 89-20, Feb 17/89)
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