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GPS is a satellite-based navigation system originally developed for military purposes and is maintained and controlled by the United States
Department of Defense. This constellation see Figure 2 below provides between five and eight GPS satellites visible from any point on the earth.
There are two GPS systems: The control segment is a group of ground stations that monitor and operate the GPS satellites. GPS uses radio
transmissions. The users consist of both the military and civilians. Each station sends information to the Control Station which then updates and
corrects the navigational message of the satellites. GPS permits land, sea, and airborne users to determine their three-dimensional position,
velocity, and time. The satellites transmit timing information and satellite location information. There are six orbital planes with at least four satellites
in each plane. There are actually five major monitoring systems, the figure below does not include the Hawaiian station. The next scheduled launch
is May 10, Figure 1 - GPS Segments. It takes each satellite about twelve hours to orbit the earth. The system can be separated into three parts:. It
can be used by anyone with a receiver anywhere on the planet, at any time of day or night, in any type of weather. There are monitoring stations
spaced around the globe and one Master Control Station located in Colorado Springs, Colorado see Figure 3 below. The user requires a GPS
receiver in order to receive the transmissions from the satellites. The only data the satellites receive is from the Master Control Station in Colorado.
The user does not transmit anything to the satellites and therefore the satellites don't know the user is there. The GPS receiver calculates the
location based on signals from the satellites. The space segment consists of the satellites themselves. This is an amazing capability! This page
includes several figures to help describe the system. Figure 3 - The Control Segment. The following figure illustrates how the three segments fit
together Figure 1.