Gps Satellite
The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, under the direct command of the US military forces. Since then, more then three dozens satellites have been launched on Earth’s orbit, servicing not only military and aviation forces but individual private users worldwide. In the history of the Global Positioning System, more than just one GPS satellite has been lost during launches or afterwards. Some orbiting devices expired, others required replacements for technical purposes, but what matters most is how the technology is applied in the performance of daily tasks. The decoding of the satellite signal is done by a GPS device or receiver that provides the exact geographical location according to three-dimensional coordinates.
Science has made such progress that GPS satellite navigation is now incorporated in the design of smartphones. People depend more and more on GPS orientation and problems may appear if replacements do not come for the orbiting satellites that will expire in a few years. At present, there are management and funding issues that seem to act against the proper reconditioning of the Global Positioning System. The US Air Force is in charge of the entire GPS satellite structure, the economic difficulties put a lot of stress on the managers who lack funds to invest in reconditioning.
The average user will hardly notice if any of the 31 orbiting satellites will fail, because normally, four satellites at time on the sky are enough to provide adequate information. Sometimes information may get redundant as the same GPS receiver can get simultaneous data from six or eight satellites, which is more than necessary. But in the eventuality of no real time positioning with the GPS satellite structures, we’d have to return to the use of maps all over again. The military, maritime and transportation systems would suffer most if the satellites are not reconditioned.
In order to offer an alternative to the GPS satellite predominance, European states prepare to launch an independent satellite navigation system in 2010. Besides the USA, other countries that have GPS satellite dominance are Russia, China and India, that operate their own Global Positioning systems. No matter how things are sorted out in terms of policy, implementation and administration at the global level, the average user will not be affected by the different modifications in the way the GPS satellite communication works. In fact, the number of GPS users will get higher because of people’s attempt to improve the efficiency of navigation.
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