The first GPS satellite was launched in 1978, under the direct command of the US military forces. More than thirty other satellites have been launched ever since for military, aviation and individual usage worldwide. The very existence of the Global Positioning System has in fact claimed the life of more than one GPS satellite, lost during the launch or on the orbit. Some satellites expired, others required replacements for technical purposes, but but no effort was spared for making GPS usage top quality. A GPS receiver decodes the signal sent by the satellite and gives the exact location based on latitude, longitude and altitude.

Science has made such progress that GPS satellite navigation is now incorporated in the design of smartphones. The GPS seems to have become an integrated part of people's life, but one has to wonder what will happen in a couple of years when the now orbiting satellites will have to be replaced. For the moment, there are funding and management issues that impair the proper reconditioning of the Global Positioning System. The US Air Force maintains the entire GPS satellite structure, the economic difficulties put a lot of stress on the managers who lack funds to invest in reconditioning.

At present there are some 31 satellites in service and since only four are necessary to get a fix on the position, the average user will not feel a change if some of the orbiting devices fail to work. There is a certain redundancy in the way information is provided, because sometimes, six up to eight satellites can get connected to a GPS receiver for the same tasks. In the absence of GPS satellite real-time positioning, consumers would have to return to the use of maps all over again. The military, maritime and transportation systems would be the most affected if the satellites are not reconditioned.

The European states are preparing the launch of an independent satellite navigation system in 2010 that would be an alternative to the American GPS satellite applications that are now most popular. Besides the USA, other countries that have GPS satellite dominance are Russia, China and India, that operate their own Global Positioning systems. No matter how things are sorted out in terms of administration, implementation and foreign policy at the global level, the average user should not be seriously troubled by the different modifications that may occur in the GPS satellite system. More and more people will in fact start using GPS devices for increased efficiency of navigation.

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