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FLORIDA, U.S. – Marking its first national security space mission for the U.S., SpaceX launched a rocket on Sunday, carrying a U.S. Military navigation satellite.

The Falcon 9 rocket, carrying a Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation satellite, lifted off from Florida’s Cape Canaveral at 8.51 am local time (1351 GMT).

The company announced the successful launch of the $500 million GPS satellite on Sunday, after cancelling four previous launches last week due to weather and technical issues.

The launch of the first Global Positioning System (GPS) III satellite of the U.S. Air Force, called Vespucci, was the last mission by SpaceX this year. 

SpaceX, which was founded by Elon Musk in 2002, said in a statement that the new GPS satellites have been built by Lockheed Martin and will provide three-times better accuracy than the current system of GPS. 

The company added that accuracy of the GPS satellite will be eight times better at anti-jamming. 

SpaceX said, “This newest generation of GPS satellites is designed and built to deliver positioning, navigation, and timing information. GPS is used by over four billion users and supports critical missions worldwide.”

In 2016, SpaceX won an $83 million air force contract to launch the GPS III satellite. 

The satellite will have a lifespan of 15 years and is the first to be launched out of 32 that are currently being built by Lockheed.

Lockheed spokesman Chip Eschenfelder said that the 32 satellites being built by the company are under contracts worth a combined $12.6 billion for the Air Force GPS III program.

The company’s spokesman added that the next GPS III satellite is due to launch in mid-2019.

SpaceX added that it has completed 21 launches so far this year.