A Brief History Of The Gps System

Gone are the days when men had to rely on navigation with a compass or worse, by charting the stars. Radio-based navigation systems were developed in the early twentieth century and were used in World War II. But when Russia launched Sputnik in 1957, navigation once again returned to “the stars,” even if they were artificial ones. This event gave birth to the modern GPS system.

Within days of the Sputnik launch, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology determined that Sputnik’s radio signal increased and decreased as the satellite orbited. Realizing that a satellite’s position could be tracked from the ground by way of radio signals was the first step in understanding that a subject’s whereabouts on the ground could be tracked using radio signals from a satellite.

In the sixties the U.S. Navy experimented with satellites to track submarines. By picking up on the radio signals of submarines, the satellites could locate the vessel’s position within 15 minutes.

This first ever Global Positioning System, now commonly referred to as a GPS system, was developed by the U.S. Department of Defense. Built in 1973, it consisted of 6 orbiting satellites. Today’s GPS system reached maturity in the mid-1990s and is comprised of 24 satellites.

However, today’s GPS system is in need of an overhaul. There has been a huge increase in demand on the current satellite system. With today’s modern vehicles coming equipped with GPS technology, and more and more business relying on GPS systems to for tracking and shipping, the current satellite system must be revamped.

The U.S. Department of Defense is planning to replace the current satellites with 24 new satellites designed for more bandwidth, speed and accuracy. The project should be completed by the end of 2010.

By: Jared Z. Ingram

Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com

Are you looking for more information regarding usb gps receiver? Then head on over to www.usbgpsreceiver.org now for more information that saves you money.