GPS upgrade behind schedule and over budget
[UPDATE 05/20/2009] WIRED chimes in: "Tax GPS to Save GPS?"
cnet reports about a variety of problems that could jeopardize the continuous operation of the Global Positioning System (GPS). From the article:
"The US plans to invest more than $5.8 billion through 2013 to modernize and replenish the existing GPS satellite constellation. But facing cost overruns of $870 million and "significant" technical problems, the US Air Force, which is in charge of GPS acquisition, has struggled to build and deploy the next generation satellites on schedule, according to a Government Accounting Office report. A failure to complete development next year before old satellites begin to fail could have wide-ranging impacts on all GPS users, the report warned."Full article.
Posted by Atanas Entchev at 5/18/2009 6:18 PM 
Categories: GIS, GIS Uses, Us, GPS
Tags: GIS GIS Uses Us GPS
Categories: GIS, GIS Uses, Us, GPS
Tags: GIS GIS Uses Us GPS
I hope I never have to go back to paper maps and tradtional surveying.
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Never say never.
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Wow.. how is this possible! I hope it's not a sign of the times >_< Hey Atanas do you think there are geopolitical consequences here, even a little bit?
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I am pretty sure GPS will survive. Also, let's not forget that (the US) GPS is not the only such system. There are other Global navigation satellite systems (GNSS), such as the Russian GLONASS. China and the European Union (EU) are also working on such systems.
Let us also not forget that the US Government, intentionally or not, *created* an entire industry (for differentially corrected GPS) by introducing Selective Availability (SA) (i.e., "scrambling" of the GPS signal (SA was turned off in 2000)).
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I agree, the survival of GPS is beyond question, after all what would our military do otherwise! Rather it's the significance of other GNSS systems that trouble me. I was just wondering if our recent unflattering press might have some kind of geopolitical consequence.
Obviously GNSS systems go beyond civilian needs, like military and security purposes, industrial policy and maybe most importantly, sovereign control over a critical infrastructure. Space tech could be the new black gold someday!
Geopolitical lines are already being drawn around space power between major players, namely the US, EU, Russia, India and China.
Though I suppose other countries would have put up their own GNSS systems anyway, regardless of troubles we have with our system.
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"I was just wondering if our recent unflattering press might have some kind of geopolitical consequence." -- I sure hope that any unflattering press "leak" is intentional and carefully crafted to achieve a specific goal.
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From the domestic perspective, this could provide a partial explanation:
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/05/tax-gps-to-save-gps/
"But in any case here’s one thought-experiment for our budget-constrained times: what if the federal government taxed all civilian providers of GPS gear? . . . Right now, GPS information beamed down from our satellites is a massive government giveaway. In a time of massive deficits, is it crazy to consider changing that?"
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Yes.
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