Abstract
This paper describes the United States Global Positioning System (GPS). The author presents policy decisions regarding GPS. The paper contends that GPS, under the aegis of the U.S .Air Force, is ill-served to advance lockstep with competing technologies overseas because U.S. supremacy in this area is tenuous, due largely to lack of funding GPS has received.

From the Paper
"The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a satellite-based infrastructure developed by the United States Department of Defense to provide an invaluable navigation service to the military. GPS has since been ..."

Tags:global positioning system, satellite navigation, space-based technology

Abstract
This paper explains that GPS provides all-weather round-the-clock navigation capabilities for the military and is an integral asset in numerous civilian applications and industries around the globe, including recreational uses such as boating, aircraft and hiking, corporate vehicle fleet tracking and surveying. The author states that the military's Precision (P) code provides positional accuracy to within approximately 20 meters. The paper reports that the first eleven spacecraft (GPS Block 1) were used to demonstrate the feasibility of the GPS system; the orbit inclination was 63 degrees, differing from the 55 degrees used for the operational system.

Table of Contents
Abstract
Background: Global Positioning System (GPS)
Problems to be Solved
Technical Discussion
Launch Facts
Future Prospects

From the Paper
"SLR will continue to be essential for measuring temporal variations of the gravity field given the passive simplicity of these orbit targets and the decadal span of precision data. With the launch of Lageos 2 in 1992 and Stella in 1993, in combination with the older geodetic satellites Lageos, Starlette, and Ajisai, estimates of the temporal variations of the gravity field will undoubtedly be improved in accuracy, and spatial and temporal resolution. Geophysical modeling of temporal gravity variations will also continue to be important, since their combination with the satellite estimates will improve our knowledge of the solid Earth, ocean, and atmosphere. The development of realistic eddy resolving multi-layer ocean models forced by real wind fields will be an important resource over the next few years for determining the role played by the atmosphere and oceans in the excitation of the Earth's gravity and rotational variations [Rosen, 1993]. Future improvements in the long-wave-length models of the time-invariant gravity field will depend on accurately modeling or estimating both the tidal and non-tidal gravity variations, as the current uncertainties for the low degree coefficients are at the same level as the known temporal variations of the coefficients. While tidally-induced variations have been modeled for many years, the importance of modeling non-tidal variations in gravity is only now becoming apparent."

Tags:weather, tracking, civilian, military, code

Abstract
This paper explains that the Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS), created in 1973 by the United States of America's Department of Defense and now operated by the U.S. Air Force, is a highly effective way to calculate, by using twenty-four space satellites in six different orbits, the exact location of a point on the earth. The author points out that, although the GPS was first invented and used mainly by the military, it is now used for nonmilitary applications from routing police and fire trucks on 911 emergency calls to finding directions for private automobile drivers. The paper relates that, over the past ten years, the price has decreased by up to 20 percent each year and continues to drop as the merchandise becomes more and more precise.

From the Paper
"In 1978, when the first round of satellites were launched, the results were less than perfect, but today the system works the exact same way with almost terrifying accuracy. Even though the results have improved, the concept is the same. GPS, which is comparable to GLONASS, a similar system developed by the Soviet Union, is made up of three segments: the space, user, and control segments. The space segment, as previously stated, consists of twenty-four satellites (3 spares) that are located 20, 190 kilometers above the earth's surface in six orbital planes that cover the sphere of the earth evenly. They orbit in 12 hours; providing every place on earth with visibility to at least the four necessary satellites for the system to work. Also, for the polar areas to be viewed completely, the satellites are at a 55 angle to the equator."

Tags:satellites, orbits, accuracy, military, automobile

Abstract
This paper examines the military technology, the global positioning system, which is a navigational system that comprises of a complex arrangement of satellites that orbit around the earth. It describes the technology, its evolution throughout the twentieth century, and its immense military application. The paper then illustrates the wider commercial use of the global positioning system in the latter part of the century.

Table of Contents:
Introduction
The Historical Events in the Global Positioning System Technology
The Origin
The World War II Era
Soviet Union's Sputnik-I
The Decade Before Developmental History (1964-1974)
Achievements of the Advancements
The Developmental History of the Global Positioning Satellites System
Pathway to the GPS Technology
The First GPS Satellite
Subsequent Developments in the Global Positioning System
Technological Account of the Global Positioning System
Operational Details of GPS
Record Information in GPS Satellite Signals
Reception of Information from Global Positioning Satellites
Communication Frequencies
Technological Advantages of the Global Positioning Satellites System
Conclusion
References

From the Paper
"The technology behind the global positioning satellites system takes its origin from Marconi's comprehension of the radio waves and their utilization for transmission purposes. This radio wave technology was employed for social advantage in the course of 1920s. In these years, radio stations were established, which minimally required a receiver to commence operation. A complex model of the same simple technology applies to the functioning of the global positioning satellites system."

Tags:gps, satellite

Abstract
This paper shows how the Global Positioning System is becoming an increasingly important part of everyday life for ordinary people. While its uses are many, at its root, GPS provides users with accurate information about their position and velocity, as well as the time, anywhere in the world and in all weather conditions. This is of obvious importance for military purposes but also for every day life as well. This paper will look at the GPS's development, how it works, as well as its costs and benefits and also the many uses of the GPS.

Abstract
This paper begins by describing the technology used for Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and then goes on to discuss the implications of the system in terms of its tracking capability, privacy issues and how the GPS technology can be utilized for self-serving purposes.

From the Paper
"The purpose of this research is to examine the phenomenon of GPS within an ethical framework. The plan of the research will be to set forth the background of the emergence of global positioning system technology and then to discuss how ethical issues arise in connection with it with a view toward identifying possible lines of conflict and development regarding it. The advent of global positioning system technology has transformed the possibilities for knowing where one is and what time it is anywhere in the world."

Tags:GPS, Ethics

Abstract
This paper discusses the development, implementation and availability to civilian use of the global positioning system (or commonly known as the GPS). The paper discusses the history of the GPS from the days of the Cold War. It then discusses the negative aspects of having this technology available, but concludes that technology can be used for good or bad and that the technology itself is not necessarily a problem.

From the Paper
"Again, whatever technology brings, be it the GPS or another one that would come our way in the next few years or the next few decades, it is up to us either individually or collectively to determine its use. What ever we hold, it could be use for good or for evil. Take for example the ongoing debate on guns and gun control. Those against radical gun control will give compelling reasons why only law enforcement and military personnel should be allowed to carry guns. But if you look at the gun lobbyists, they, too have logical reasons on why we should have "the right to bear arms" not only in terms of the constitutional rights but in moral and ethical aspects as well. Much as the debate will never stop and there would always be two or more schools of thoughts on matters, this is the thing that makes technology more interesting, not just the development, manufacturing and the evolution of the technology, but the application people would put them to."

Tags:surveying, navigation, development

Abstract
This paper discusses the theory of global positioning satellites, illustrating the technology behind the system. The history of global positioning satellites is outlined, describing the first global positioning system, the transmission functions and the reception of information from global positioning satellites. The paper presents the advantages of the global positioning satellites system.

From the Paper
"As the name suggests, the global positioning satellite system is based on satellites. It is a navigational system that comprises of a complex arrangement of satellites that orbit round the earth. Twenty-four in all, these satellites are eleven thousand nautical miles far in space. There are six dissimilar orbits wherein the satellites continually keep revolving. It takes these satellites twenty-four hours to complete two orbital revolutions round the Earth. Upon calculation, the revolutionary speed of these satellites is computed to be around 2,600 meters per second (JA-GPS.com)."

Tags:navigational, space, orbit, receivers, transmittors, almanac, ephemeris, pseudo-random, data

Abstract
Shows how the system is under control of U.S. Air Force. Discusses civilian applications of the inter-satellite communications, the origin of the GPS in the atomic clock, and the development of GPS from military-only device to civilian fields.

From the Paper
"The Global Positioning System is controlled by the United States Department of Defense, but it has many civilian applications, and its very first origins rest in neither the military nor in satellite technology but in the clock, specifically the atomic ..."

Abstract
This paper explores the history and the use of the GPS within the military, from the beginnings of the system at the development of the Department of Defense to its current applications, as well as the likely futures of this useful tool. In addressing these elements of the GPS, the reader will realize that an item of technology that is so comparatively "commonplace" is actually quite revolutionary in its design and its overall purpose.