You may know about Global Positioning Satellites or GPS from TV shows like JAG and Pensacola where it is seems our intrepid heroes can determine the position of submarines and those engaged in criminal activity with pinpoint accuracy, but have you ever wondered how a GPS system actually works and where it came from? Read on to find out how Global Positioning Satellites work and how this useful technology originated.
During the 1960’s U.S. Navy and Air Force personnel applied their minds to creating a system that would enable navigation capability for a range of different military applications. As it turned out most of these systems were not compatible with each other and as early as 1973 the Department of Defense made concerted efforts to provide for the cohesion of their systems - the basis of which was to make use of atomic clocks which would be carried on satellites.
A few years earlier a system called Timation had been extensively tested with success and this would be the foundation for the new compatible system technology.
What sprang out of this intense effort to enhance military and naval technology systems would be dubbed the ‘Navstar’ Global Positioning System. It was initially operated by the Air Force and it is this groundbreaking technology which would eventually become familiar as the Global Positioning Satellites we know today.
This brand new brain child would see three components namely: several ground stations that would control the system, a group or "constellation" of satellites in Earth orbit, and receivers carried by GPS operators or users coming into play.
Ultimately the system would be of such a nature that receivers wouldn’t need atomic clocks. This was, in fact, revolutionary since it meant that Global Positioning Satellites could be reduced in size, fit into the palm of ones hand and be manufactured both quickly and cheaply.
