History of the GPS Satellite
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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 but no effort was spared for making GPS usage top quality. 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. 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 funding and management issues that impair the proper reconditioning of the Global Positioning System. The US Air Force is in charge of the entire GPS satellite structure, but according to a recent May 2009 report, there are economic difficulties to be overcome.
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 six up to eight satellites can get connected to a GPS receiver for the same tasks. In the absence of GPS satellite real-time positioning, consumers would have to start using maps all over again. The transportation systems, the maritime and military forces would be the most affected without GPS satellite reconditioning.
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. No matter 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.
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When the author isn’t being tracked, she has a collection of interests in psychic readings, Seattle HCG diet, and BMW Z4 windscreen windblocker wind deflector.
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