China doesn’t plan to depend on the US – for GPS guidance this time – and they have launched their own GPS satellite. Thi s is the fifth of 35 satellites to be launched for the project, scheduled to be completed by 2010. They see this new project as a huge step forward in weather forecasting and other areas as well.
China may have been ahead of the game in 2000 when they started testing for this GPS project, as only in 2009 it was reported by the GAO that the remaining 31 of 59 launched GPS satellites could begin failing as soon as 2010.
“It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption. If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected.” (GAO Report)
China launches new GPS satellite
According to a 2009 Fox News report, “Mismanagement and underinvestment by the U.S. Air Force could possibly lead to the failure and blackout of the GPS.” Other reports note that of the 31 operational birds in the air, 17 are already past their life expectancy, with the oldest 20 years old, placed in service in 1990.
For a fully functional global GPS system, 24 working sats are needed, so it would seem we actually have seven to spare before we start having any trouble. Maybe people freak out a bit much, are over sensational or whatever, but the US spends so many billions of dollars each year on military, they should be able to squeeze this out of their extra billions somewhere.
UPDATE: After pushing ‘publish,’ I found a Gizmodo article which details that there is an $8BB GPS remodeling project underway, putting 24 new superfast GPS birds in the sky over the next 10 years.
Source: Reuters
