The magic of GPS simplified (2024)

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A-GPS vs GPS

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  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brooke Wise
  • Peterson-Schriever Garrison Public Affairs
SCHRIEVER SPACE FORCE BASE, Colo. --

Have you ever wondered how your smart watch tracks your running path, or how you can pay for groceries with the swipe of a card? These devices are powered by the Global Positioning System, or GPS.

GPS is comprised of satellites that provide position, navigation and timing services to billions of people. The satellites do this by sending navigation messages to GPS receivers around the world.

“GPS is used in many aspects of life, from the timing of the stock market to clocks around the world,” explained U.S. Space Force 1st Lt. Austin Esquivel, 2nd Space Operations Squadron chief orbital analyst and satellite vehicle operator. “Our entire economy and infrastructure system is built with GPS. If we didn’t have it, we would be back to the 1960s.”

Space Delta 8 - Satellite Communications and Navigational Warfare, 2nd SOPS, is responsible for GPS operations. They are a U.S. Space Force unit located at Schriever Space Force Base, Colorado. A total of 170 Guardians, Airman and civilians make sure that the satellite constellation is operating properly 24/7.

“GPS operators are responsible for contacting, or ‘talking to’ the GPS satellites every day to collect information about the health of the vehicles,” said U.S. Space Force 2nd Lt. Theodore Mullee, 2nd SOPS payload systems operator. “They refresh information that goes out to global receivers so that it's the most up to date and accurate.”

GPS satellites are always broadcasting two things: a timestamp and their location. If you know what time a signal was sent, how fast it was going and what time it is when the signal reaches you, then you can determine how far away the source of that signal is.

Imagine you are driving in a car and set your cruise control at 60 mph, then start your stopwatch. If you drive like this for one hour, you know that you’ve gone 60 miles from where you started. Since it is known that radio waves travel at the speed of light, this exact concept can be used to get a range from any GPS satellite.

Range information from four satellites is then used to get an exact location on Earth through a scientific method called trilateration: determining position by knowing distance from at least four points. A GPS receiver will then convert this ranging information into a location on Earth that anyone can understand and use.

Anytime you use a hiking or rideshare app, your phone is performing these calculations continuously, giving you an accurate location in real-time. None of this would be possible without the GPS satellite constellation.

The magic of GPS simplified (2024)

FAQs

What is the simple explanation of GPS? ›

A global positioning system (GPS) is a network of satellites and receiving devices used to determine the location of something on Earth. Some GPS receivers are so accurate they can establish their location within 1 centimeter.

How to explain GPS to kids? ›

The Short Answer:

GPS is a system of 30+ navigation satellites circling Earth. We know where they are because they constantly send out signals. A GPS receiver in your phone listens for these signals.

What is GPS question answer? ›

What is GPS? The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a U.S.-owned utility that provides users with positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) services.

Who controls GPS? ›

Today, GPS is a multi-use, space-based radio-navigation system owned by the US Government and operated by the United States Air Force to meet national defense, homeland security, civil, commercial, and scientific needs.

What are the major uses of GPS explain? ›

Location – determining a position. Navigation – getting from one location to another. Tracking – monitoring object or personal movement. Mapping – creating maps of the world.

What is GPS in one word? ›

Global Positioning System:

Also called GPS re·ceiv·er [jee, -, pee, -, es, ree-, see, -ver].

How do you use GPS in a short sentence? ›

Example Sentences

Cellular telephony places us on the map of the world as precisely as the global positioning system (GPS) deployed on satellites.

Can GPS work without internet? ›

GPS does not require any form of internet connectivity. GPS depends on signals from satellites. Anyone can harness these signals using a GPS receiver. You can test this fact by turning off the internet connection on your phone and using Google Maps.

What is the mathematical principle used in GPS? ›

GPS uses trilateration not triangulation. Trilateration involves measuring distances. It is sometimes confused with triangulation which measures angles. Here's a simple example of how trilateration works.

How does GPS know the roads? ›

According to GPS Review, the suppliers of traffic data to the navigation units get their own data from "road sensors, local departments of transportation, data collected from operators of large fleets of vehicles, and other manual sources such as traffic helicopters and listening to police scanners."

What is the difference between GPS and a GPS? ›

A-GPS is faster in finding the location but GPS gives a more precise location information. While there is no additional cost involved in using GPS devices, an A-GPS has additional cost involved because it uses services and resources of the wireless carrier's mobile network.

How does GPS work step by step? ›

Satellites are continually broadcasting their orbital position and exact time at that position on radio frequencies. That signal is received by antennas, along with at least three other satellite signals, then processed in a GPS receiver to compute a user's location.

How accurate is GPS? ›

If you're outside and can see the open sky, the GPS accuracy from your phone is about five meters, and that's been constant for a while.

What is the definition of GPS and examples? ›

What is Global Positioning System (GPS)? The Global Positioning System (GPS) is a "constellation" of 31 well-spaced satellites that orbit the Earth and make it possible for people with ground receivers to pinpoint their geographic location.

How many satellites are needed for GPS? ›

A receiver must be locked on to the signal of at least three satellites to calculate a 2D position (latitude and longitude) and track movement. With four or more satellites in view, the receiver can determine the user's 3D position (latitude, longitude and altitude).

What does GPS stand for and what is its purpose? ›

GPS stands for Global Positioning System, and it lets us know where we are and where we are going anywhere on Earth. We still need objects in the sky to know where we are and how we get to other places, but now we use satellites instead of stars.

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