GPS satellite – Eye in the sky!

The Global Positioning System, or GPS as it is popularly known, is the only system in the world that can tell you your exact location at any time, any where on Earth. And even a little above or below it! The secret to its unlimited knowledge in spotting the exact location lies in the GPS satellite! This is a satellite that revolves around the Earth and communicates with ground stations. The information that is received through each GPS satellite is then assimilated and analyzed to locate a person or thing’s location.

The complete GPS space system includes 24 satellites, 11,000 nautical miles above the Earth. Each GPS satellite takes 12 hours each to go around the Earth once. This complete revolution is one orbit. They are positioned so that ground stations can receive signals from six of them nearly 100 percent of the time at any point on Earth. You need that many signals to get the best position information.

Satellites are equipped with very precise clocks that keep accurate time to within three nanoseconds. That equates to 0.000000003, or three billionths of a second. This precision timing is important because the receiver must determine exactly how long it takes for signals to travel from each GPS satellite. The receiver uses this information to calculate its position. The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978. The first 10 satellites were developmental satellites, called Block I. The first production satellite was launched in 1989 and is called GPS Block II. It consists of 24 satellites, the last one of which was launched in 1994.

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About The Author:

Garima Sharma is a successful author and publisher at www.1st-at-gps-tracking.com. Recommending gps equipment and associated products
28-06-04