Editing Global Positioning System (section)

{{Short description|American satellite-based radio navigation service}}
{{About|the American global navigation satellite system|similar systems|Satellite navigation}}
{{redirect|GPS|GPS devices|Satellite navigation device|other uses}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=July 2020}}
{{Infobox navigation satellite system
| name = Global Positioning System (GPS)
| image = NAVSTAR GPS logo.png
| country = United States
| type = Military, civilian
| status = Operational
| operator = [[United States Space Force|US Space Force]]<br>([[Mission Delta 31]])
| coverage = Global
| precision = {{convert|30|-|500|cm|ft|sigfig=2|abbr=on}}
| satellites_nominal = 24
| satellites_current = 31 operational
| first_launch = {{start date and age|1978|2|22}}
| last_launch = 
| launch_total = 79
| regime = 6 [[Medium Earth orbit|MEO]] planes
| orbit_height = {{convert|20180|km|mi|abbr=on}}
| cost = {{Tree list}}
* Initial constellation:
** {{Tree list/branching}}
** $12 billion<ref name="time-gps-cost"/>
{{Tree list/end}}
{{Tree list}}
* Operating cost:
** {{Tree list/branching}}
** $1.84 billion per year (2023)<ref name="time-gps-cost">{{Cite web|date=April 27, 2022|title=Fiscal Year 2023 Program Funding
|url=https://www.gps.gov/policy/funding/2023/|access-date=September 24, 2023}}</ref>
{{Tree list/end}}
| website = {{URL|https://www.gps.gov|gps.gov}}
| orbit_period = {{Fraction|1|2}} [[Sidereal day|sd]] or 11 hours and 58 minutes
| revisit_period = 1 sidereal day
}}
{{multiple image
 | perrow = 2
 | width = 175
 | image1 = GPS Block IIIA.jpg | caption1 = Artist's impression of GPS Block&nbsp;IIIA satellite in Earth orbit
 | image2 = Magellan GPS Blazer12.jpg | caption2 = Late 1990s civilian GPS receiver ("[[GPS navigation device]]") in a marine application
 | image3 = KyotoTaxiRide.jpg | caption3 = [[Automotive navigation system]] in a taxicab, 2000s
 | image4 = 2nd Space Operations Squadron (7033686).jpeg
 | caption4 = A [[United States Space Force]] officer operates the Global Positioning System in 2022.}}
{{Geodesy}}

The '''Global Positioning System''' ('''GPS''') is a [[Radionavigation-satellite service|satellite-based]] [[hyperbolic navigation]] system owned by the [[United States Space Force]] and operated by [[Mission Delta 31]].<ref name=":0">{{cite web |author1=United States Department of Defense |author1-link=United States Department of Defense |date=September 2008 |title=Global Positioning System Standard Positioning Service Performance Standard |url=https://www.gps.gov/technical/ps/2008-SPS-performance-standard.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170427025348/http://www.gps.gov/technical/ps/2008-SPS-performance-standard.pdf |archive-date=April 27, 2017 |access-date=April 21, 2017 |edition=4th}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=September 25, 2023 |title=GPS – NASA |url=https://www.nasa.gov/directorates/somd/space-communications-navigation-program/gps/ |access-date=2025-01-05 |language=en-US}}</ref> It is one of the [[satellite navigation|global navigation satellite systems]] (GNSS) that provide [[geolocation]] and [[Time transfer|time information]] to a [[Satellite navigation device|GPS receiver]] anywhere on or near the Earth where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites.<ref>{{cite web |author1=Science Reference Section |author1-link=Library of Congress |title=What is a GPS? How does it work? |url=https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/what-is-gps-how-does-it-work/ |website=Everyday Mysteries |publisher=[[Library of Congress]] |access-date=April 12, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220412090940/https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/item/what-is-gps-how-does-it-work/ |archive-date=April 12, 2022 |date=November 19, 2019 |url-status=live}}</ref> It does not require the user to transmit any data, and operates independently of any telephone or Internet reception, though these technologies can enhance the usefulness of the GPS positioning information.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raza |first=Khalid |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vmsDEAAAQBAJ&newbks=0&printsec=frontcover&hl=vi#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Computational Intelligence Methods in COVID-19: Surveillance, Prevention, Prediction and Diagnosis |date=October 16, 2020 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-981-15-8534-0 |pages=114 |language=en}}</ref> It provides critical positioning capabilities to military, civil, and commercial users around the world. Although the United States government created, controls, and maintains the GPS system, it is freely accessible to anyone with a GPS receiver.<ref>{{cite web|author1=((National Coordination Office for Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing)) |url=https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/|title=What is GPS?|date=February 22, 2021|access-date=May 5, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210506000043/https://www.gps.gov/systems/gps/|archive-date=May 6, 2021 |url-status=live }}</ref>