Air Force pushes GPS III launch date to Dec. 18

The Air Force announced this week it has pushed the planned Dec. 15 GPS III launch to Dec. 18 in order to accommodate NASA's re-supply mission to the International Space Station.

The ISS mission is scheduled to launch Dec. 4.

The first Lockheed Martin-built GPS III satellite was originally scheduled to be available for launch in 2014, however a series of program delays pushed the launch date to late 2018.

The first GPS III satellite was declared ready to launch in September 2017 and the second space vehicle has since received the same designation.

GPS III SV-1 will fly on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket.