After the upgrade, GPS accuracy will be 60–90 cm

    The GPS system consists of 24 satellites, and all of them are already in orbit for a rather long time (they were launched from 1990 to 1997). It's time for an upgrade. In the near future, all devices of the current GPS standard will be replaced with a newer version of GPS IIF , which has several advantages, including more resistance to jamming (now jammers are needed 100 times more powerful).

    But most importantly, GPS IIF provides much higher accuracy in determining coordinates. If current satellites provide an error of 6 meters, then new satellites will be able to determine the location, as expected, with an accuracy of not more than 60–90 cm. If such accuracy will be not only for military, but also for civilian applications, then this is good news for Foursquare users and owners of GPS navigators.

    Moreover, such an increase in GPS accuracy means that it becomes possible to use satellite coordinates for new-class software applications such as augmented reality.

    Currently, only one GPS IIF SV-1 satellite has been put into orbit , which has been operating in full-fledged mode since August 27, 2010. The second satellite SV-2 will be launched this year.

    In total, the initial contract provided for the launch of 33 new generation GPS satellites, but then, due to technical problems, the launch was postponed from 2006 to 2010, and the number of satellites was reduced from 33 to 12. All of them will be put into orbit in the near future.

    The increased accuracy of next-generation GPS satellites is made possible by the use of more accurate atomic clocks . Since satellites travel at a speed of about 14,000 km / h, improving accuracy even in the sixth digit is critical for triangulation. This text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License . You can copy, edit and use for commercial purposes this text with the obligatory indication of authorship.

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