GPS IIF-6 Set to Launch Published May 15, 2014 LOS ANGELES AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Today's GPS IIF-6 launch window opens at 8:08 p.m. and stays open for 18 minutes. The satellite is the sixth in a series of next generation GPS satellites and will join a worldwide timing and navigation system utilizing 24 satellites in six different planes, with a minimum of four satellites per plane positioned in orbit approximately 11,000 miles above the Earth's surface.