The US military forces launched the first GPS satellite in 1978. 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 were taken out of service, others were replaced, but what matters most is how the technology is applied in the performance of daily tasks. A GPS receiver decodes the signal sent by the satellite and gives the exact location based on latitude, longitude and altitude.

Science has made such progress that GPS satellite navigation is now incorporated in the design of smartphones. 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 management and funding issues that impair the proper reconditioning of the GPS applications. The US Air Force is in charge of the entire GPS satellite structure, the economic difficulties put a lot of stress on the managers who lack funds to invest in reconditioning.

The average user will hardly notice if any of the 31 orbiting satellites will fail, because normally, four satellites at time on the sky are enough to provide adequate information. There is a certain redundancy in the way information is provided, because sometimes, 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 return to the use of maps all over again. The transportation systems, the maritime and military forces would suffer most 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. Besides the USA, other countries that have GPS satellite dominance are Russia, China and India, that operate their own Global Positioning systems. Regardless of how things are sorted out in terms of administration, implementation and foreign policy at the global level, the average user should not be seriously troubled by the different modifications that may occur in the GPS satellite system. 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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