Re: Are GPS satellites really on the verge of failing? No.

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Peter Capek <capek () ieee org>
Date: May 19, 2009 10:23:10 PM EDT
To: dave () farber net
Subject: Re: [IP] Are GPS satellites really on the verge of failing? No.

A posting here earlier today referenced an article in the Guardian  
that alluded to an unhappy
future for the GPS satellite constellation, citing a Government  
Accountability Office report as
its source.

It must have been a slow news day.   The report, at  http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d09325.pdf
does mention some program management problems - late satellite  
launches, budgets exceeded,
the usual.   The bottom line is that nothing is imminent, and although  
the risk of having less
than a full constellation is small, it isn't zero.   But there's lots  
of time to fix things before anything
we'll notice is at risk of happening.

An interesting sidelight is that a new set of satellites with a signal  
that is more resistant to jamming is in the process of being built and  
deployed.   But it will be quite a few years before
the military has any hardware in place that can receive the new  
signal.   Sigh.

            Peter Capek






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