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GPS has become a widely used aid to navigation worldwide, and a useful tool for map-making, land surveying, commerce, scientific uses, tracking and surveillance, and hobbies such as geocaching and waymarking. The precise time reference provided by GPS is used in many applications including the scientific study of earthquakes and as a time synchronization source for cellular network protocols.
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Modernization
- In 1972, the U.S. Air Force Central Inertial Guidance Test Facility (Holloman AFB), conducted developmental flight tests of two prototype GPS receivers over White Sands Missile Range, using ground-based pseudo-satellites.
- In 1978, the first experimental Block-I GPS satellite was launched.
- In 1983, after Soviet interceptor aircraft shot down the civilian airliner KAL 007 that strayed into prohibited airspace due to navigational errors, killing all 269 people on board, U.S. President Ronald Reagan announced that the GPS would be made available for civilian uses once it was completed.
- By 1985, ten more experimental Block-I satellites had been launched to validate the concept.
- On February 14, 1989, the first modern Block-II satellite was launched.
- In 1992, the 2nd Space Wing, which originally managed the system, was de-activated and replaced by the 50th Space Wing.
- By December 1993, the GPS achieved initial operational capability.
- By January 17, 1994 a complete constellation of 24 satellites was in orbit.
- Full Operational Capability was declared by NAVSTAR in April 1995.
- In 1996, recognizing the importance of GPS to civilian users as well as military users, U.S. President Bill Clinton issued a policy directive declaring GPS to be a dual-use system and establishing an Interagency GPS Executive Board to manage it as a national asset.
- In 1998, U.S. Vice President Al Gore announced plans to upgrade GPS with two new civilian signals for enhanced user accuracy and reliability, particularly with respect to aviation safety and in 2000 the U.S. Congress authorized the effort, referring to it as GPS III.
- In 1998, GPS technology was inducted into the Space Foundation Space Technology Hall of Fame.
- On May 2, 2000 "Selective Availability" was discontinued as a result of the 1996 executive order, allowing users to receive a non-degraded signal globally.
- In 2004, the United States Government signed an agreement with the European Community establishing cooperation related to GPS and Europe's planned Galileo system.
- In 2004, U.S. President George W. Bush updated the national policy and replaced the executive board with the National Executive Committee for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing.
- November 2004, QUALCOMM announced successful tests of assisted GPS for mobile phones.
- In 2005, the first modernized GPS satellite was launched and began transmitting a second civilian signal (L2C) for enhanced user performance.
- On September 14, 2007, the aging mainframe-based Ground Segment Control System was transitioned to the new Architecture Evolution Plan.
- The most recent launch was on May 28, 2010.[19] The oldest GPS satellite still in operation was launched on November 26, 1990, and became operational on December 10, 1990.
- On May 19, 2009, the U. S. Government Accountability Office issued a report warning that some GPS satellites could fail as soon as 2010.
- On May 21, 2009, the Air Force Space Command allayed fears of GPS failure saying "There's only a small risk we will not continue to exceed our performance standard.
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