Global Positioning System
One hazard of human existence is being geographically lost, which can sometimes mean the difference between life and death. The ability to know one's position was considerably enhanced on February 22, 1978, when members of the U.S. Air Force (USAF) Space Division based in Los Angeles, California, launched the first NAVSTAR (Navigation Satellite with Timing and Ranging) satellite in the Global Positioning System (GPS). This satellite-based navigation system enables users anywhere on Earth to determine their location to a high degree of accuracy.
Components of the System
GPS is a satellite-based navigation system consisting of three segments: space, ground, and user. The space and ground segments are run by a military organization called the United States Space Command, which is located in Colorado Springs, Colorado. This command, composed of components of the USAF, the U.S. Army, and the U.S. Navy, launches the NAVSTAR satellites and is responsible for space and ground operations. The user segment includes any organization, ship, person, or airplane that uses GPS.
The space segment consists of a constellation of twenty-four satellites based in six different orbital planes at an altitude of 20,000 kilometers (12,400 miles). In this orbit, each satellite circles the planet twice in twenty-four hours and travels at the speed of 3.89 kilometers per second (8,640 miles per hour).
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