Mission type Navigation COSPAR ID 1993-068A Mission duration 22 years Inclination 55° Period 12 hours Launch mass 1,816 kg | Operator US Air Force SATCAT no. 22877 Inclination 55° Launch mass 1,816 kg Launch date 26 October 1993 | |
USA-96, also known as GPS IIA-14, GPS II-23 and GPS SVN-34, was an American navigation satellite which formed part of the Global Positioning System. It was the fourteenth of nineteen Block IIA GPS satellites to be launched.
USA-96 was launched at 17:04:00 UTC on 26 October 1993, atop a Delta II carrier rocket, flight number D223, flying in the 7925-9.5 configuration. The launch took place from Launch Complex 17B at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, and placed USA-96 into a transfer orbit. The satellite raised itself into medium Earth orbit using a Star-37XFP apogee motor.
On 25 November 1993, USA-96 was in an orbit with a perigee of 20,104 kilometres (12,492 mi), an apogee of 20,260 kilometres (12,590 mi), a period of 717.96 minutes, and 55 degrees of inclination to the equator. It broadcast the PRN 04 signal, and operated in slot 4 of plane D of the GPS constellation. The satellite has a mass of 1,816 kilograms (4,004 lb). It had a design life of 7.5 years, and lasted until 2 November 2015, being removed from the GPS constellation the next day, almost 22 years later.