The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, under the direct command of the US military forces. More than thirty other satellites have been launched ever since for military, aviation and individual usage 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 expired, others were replaced, but but no effort was spared for making GPS usage top quality. 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. At present, there are funding and management issues that impair 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.
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 six up to eight satellites can get connected to a GPS receiver for the same tasks. But in the eventuality of no real time positioning with the GPS satellite structures, we'd 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 administration, implementation and foreign policy 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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