History of GPS

Conceived in the 60s, in the heart of the Cold War, for military intelligence applications, the system of geographical location (Global Positioning System, or GPS) was inspired by the launch of the spacecraft Sputnik by the Soviets in 1957 . It is a constellation of GPS satellites orbiting the Earth can provide the position of a point on the planet to anyone equipped with a GPS receiver. The signals carry a time code and a geographic point allowing the driver driving with his car GPS , to locate its exact position on the planet, and its speed and the exact time.

The first Transit satellite system launched by the United States has been tested by the U.S. Navy in 1960. With five satellites in orbit around the Earth, ships could determine their position at sea every hour. In 1967, the satellite

Timation replaced Transit, showing that high precision atomic clocks could operate in space. Thereafter, the GPS system has developed rapidly for military purposes and in total 11 satellites "Block" were launched between 1978 and 1985.

Still, it was not until 1983, after the Russians had shot down a Korean airliner (flight 007), the U.S. administration under Reagan was persuaded to put the GPS in the service of civil applications - flights, shipping and others around the world. Thus allowing them to determine their position, the GPS could save them from inadvertently entering foreign territories prohibited.

The space shuttle disaster in 1986 - the Challenger mission of NASA - has delayed the modernization of GPS and it took until 1989 for the first Block II satellites are launched. The United States launched into orbit their 24th Navstar satellite in summer 1993, complementing the modern constellation of 24 GPS satellites - now known as the Global Positioning System, or GPS. Within the constellation, 21 satellites operating simultaneously, the other 3 satellites are in reserve in 1995, said the system was 100% operational. The current GPS network consists of about 30 active satellites in the constellation.

Nowadays, the GPS navigator is used for a myriad of navigation applications, ranging from the route search for drivers for mapping, through seismic studies, climate and even a game of "geocaching," which involves a scavenger hunt outdoors. The general public uses mostly car GPS , but also for the bike, biking, hiking, etc..