United Launch Alliance sent its Atlas V rocket up into the chilly, blue sky Friday from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.

The rocket officially blasted off at 8:38 a.m. It is carrying the 12th — and final — GPS IIF-12 satellite.

The satellite is the final in a series of GPS satellites designed to make life easier for the military and civilians.

"Kind of an end of an era — a bittersweet time," said Lt. Col. Tom Ste. Marie, with the U.S. Air Force.

The first satellite launched in May 2010.

"Dropping precision-guided bombs, you know, we're now in an era where the diameter of those bombs can be smaller and smaller and smaller and can eliminate collateral damage," Ste. Marie said.

The IIF satellites travel 11,000 miles above earth and can pinpoint a location within 5 feet. The satellites provide better navigation data on cellphones and map devices.

"It's not just the navigation piece," Ste. Marie said. "It's also the time transfer piece, every banking transaction that we have out there has a timestamp on it that somehow gets back to GPS, farming applications, aviation applications, sea-faring applications. It really is endless."

Although it's the end of this series, the Space Coast will continue to launch GPS satellites. The Air Force is already preparing to launch the GPS III satellites starting in 2017.