GPS navigation or GPS receiver is an everyday thing today. But what is behind GPS navigation? Can we have any effect because of this point?
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. In the history of the Global Positioning System, more than just one GPS satellite has been lost during launches or afterwards. Some satellites expired, others required replacements for technical purposes, but what matters most is how the technology is applied in the performance of daily tasks. A GPS receiver decodes the signal sent by the satellite and gives the exact location based on latitude, longitude and altitude.
Presently, almost any smartphone includes a form of GPS satellite navigation with different mapping support and applications. The GPS seems to have become an integrated part of people’s life, but one has to wonder what will happen in a couple of years when the now orbiting satellites will have to be replaced. For the moment, there are management and funding issues that seem to act against the proper reconditioning of the Global Positioning System. The US Air Force maintains 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 transportation systems, the maritime and military forces would be the most affected 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. There are other countries that have individual satellite navigation and here we can count India, China or Russia. 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. More and more people will in fact start using GPS devices for increased efficiency of navigation.
