#gps explained

GPS The Global Positioning System (GPS) would trace its developments to the beginning of the Space Race in the 1950s, when the beeping transmissions of artificial satellite Sputnik 1 was tracked to determine where it was in orbit. This led the United States to work on the direct predecessor of the GPS, which was then called Navstar. It would be reason why we also have GPS in our everyday devices like phones and vehicles. GLONASS The Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) would also have a similar history as the GPS, inspired by the prospects of radio-astronomy technologies for navigation. Also like the GPS, it currently has a nominal constellation constituted by 24 satellites, but there would also be differences to note. Heralding the swift global progress of BeiDou was the Chinese government, which claims that their system is comparable with the GPS. Operating at heights beyond those usually utilized by GPS, GLONASS, and BeiDou, the intention of Galileo would be to provide better positioning accuracy for civilian users. A lot of middle to high-end phones being sold nowadays come with GPS and/or A-GPS support and I wondered if people really use them at all. Read more in our articles including "GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo: What do they mean?" and "Poll: Do you use the GPS in your phone?".