GPS satellite has been in orbit for the third decade

A remarkable event mark the US Air Force and the company Boeing, at one time absorbed aerospace and defense production of Rockwell Corporation. The last GPS Block IIA-10 (SVN-23) satellite, launched as early as the USSR era, on November 26, 1990, continues to work properly in orbit for the third decade.

The satellite earned in the system for the intended purpose two weeks after it entered orbit - December 10, 1990, so the next anniversary is just around the corner. It will work a lot - according to estimates by the US Air Force (it operates the AFSPC wing system 50) for at least another 12-18 months. The estimated SAS (active lifetime) of the satellite was only 7.5 years, and now it has already been exceeded almost three times.
GPS Block IIA-10 (SVN-23) was the first unit of the generation block IIA - a total of 19 were launched between 1990 and 1997. Of these, 10 today are still in service and even not removed from the system "temporarily".
It is noteworthy that even the “youngest” of these devices worked in space for more than two times longer than the current GLONASS record holder - satellite No. 712 (7 position 1 of the orbital plane), launched into space on December 26, 2004 and put into operation only a year later, on October 7, 2005. In the second place in the GLONASS for the duration of active existence - the devices that were launched into space less than 4 years ago.