A Boeing [NYSE: BA]-built Delta II rocket deployed a Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite March 31 for the U.S. Air Force. GPS IIR-9 was launched aboard a Delta II launch vehicle from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., at 5:09 p.m. EST.

The GPS system, operated by the Air Force Space Command, provides military and civilian users with location data in longitude, latitude and elevation as well as time and velocity information. The next scheduled Delta launch is the space infrared telescope facility mission for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration in mid-April from Cape Canaveral aboard the first launch of the Delta II Heavy vehicle.