History of the GPS Navigation System
The Global Positioning System (GPS) was developed in the United States for the Department of Defense. The progress towards today's personal GPS began in 1967 and grew through the 1970s as technology advanced. GPS is currently used for such applications as map making, land surveying, tracking and surveillance. Using a constellation of satellites, the GPS triangulates the user's location and any location requested by the user.
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The Birth
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Transit was the first system used by the Navy in 1960, and in 1967 the military was able to launch accurate clocks into space; these are the cores of the GPS systems. Based on LORAN, the 1970s brought about design and testing of GPS receivers at White Sands, using ground based technology. In 1978, the first Block 1 satellite was launched.
The 1980s
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The USSR shot down a civilian plane in 1983, after accidentally straying into their airspace, and President Ronald Reagan declared that the use of the GPS be made available to civilians once all testing was completed. More Block 1 satellites were launched over the next decade, giving birth to Block II. The 50th Space Wing would soon take over operations.
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The 1990s
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Completion of the project was achieved in 1994 with a constellation of 24 satellites to aid in precision pinpointing of locations, and NAVSTAR came into operation by April 1995. President Bill Clinton declared the GPS a dual use system for civilians and the military in 1996 with an Executive Board in charge. In 1998, Vice President Al Gore ordered plans to upgrade the GPS to two civilian signals and discontinued the use of the single degraded signal that the military had made available for enhanced capabilities.
Into the 21st Century
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By the turn of the century, selective availability was discontinued and, in 2004, the U.S. signed an agreement with Europe to work hand-in-hand with their Galileo system. That same year, Qualcomm successfully tested GPS-enabled mobile phones. The following year L2C signals began transmitting on new satellites and the Ground Segment Control System was decommissioned.
Uses
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Military uses for the GPS include navigation, target tracking, missile guidance, search and rescue, and mapping. Civilians benefit from the technology for hiking, mapping, navigation and navigation with enhanced capabilities. Enhancements include, for instance, finding the closest pizza place to your current location and offering you the address, phone number and directions. Researcher track environmental measurements as well as enhanced tectonic plate tracking.
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Resources
- Photo Credit Public Domain / US DOD
