GPS Satellite

GPS navigation or GPS receiver is an everyday thing today. But what is behind GPS navigation? Can we have any effect for the reason of this fact?
The US military forces launched the first GPS satellite in 1978. 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. The very existence of the Global Positioning System has in fact claimed the life of more than one GPS satellite, lost during the launch or on the orbit. Some satellites were taken out of service, 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.

Presently, almost any smartphone includes a form of GPS satellite navigation with different mapping support and applications. 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. For the moment, there are funding and management issues that impair the proper reconditioning of the GPS applications. 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.

At present there are some 31 satellites in service and since only four are necessary to get a fix on the position, the average user will not feel a change if some of the orbiting devices fail to work. Sometimes information may get redundant as the same GPS receiver can get simultaneous data from six or eight satellites, which is more than necessary. In the absence of GPS satellite real-time positioning, consumers would have to return to the use of maps all over again. The transportation systems, the maritime and military forces would suffer most if the satellites are not reconditioned.

The European states are preparing the launch of an independent satellite navigation system in 2010 that would be an alternative to the American GPS satellite applications that are now most popular. There are other countries that have individual satellite navigation and here we can count India, China or Russia. Regardless of how things are managed 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. More and more people will in fact start using GPS devices for increased efficiency of navigation.