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Articles

1986: Vol. LXIII, No. 2

The Global Positioning System

Submitted
July 31, 2015
Published
2015-07-23

Abstract

GPS, the Global Positioning System, will rapidly become the most widely used radionavigation system in the world when it becomes operational later in this decade. The advantages of GPS (e.g., excellent accuracy, worldwide availability, all-weather performance, and operational simplicity) will assure its rapid acceptance, and the large market thus generated will assure many equipment choices and attractive prices. This paper describes the current GPS development status, including an evaluation of the progress being made toward full deployment. The paper next explores the surprising number of interim GPS applications making use of the present constellation of test and evaluation Navstar satellites. Differential GPS, which can provide navigational accuracy of five meters in local areas, will be evaluated and progress toward standardization of signal formats discussed. Finally, this paper looks toward the future, projecting when GPS will be ready for widespread use and predicting some of the types of equipment which will be available.