GPS has made a major impact on our world. How is it a free service that anyone with a phone can access? How is it profitable for companies to offer services like navigation without subscription fees or ads?
In: Technology
It is the government, more specifically the US military that runs it. There are alternatives run by the Russian government and Europe (?).
Originally it was solely for military use, however in 1983 a commercial plane flew into USSR airspace and was shot down, killing everyone. The military released the ability for people to use GPS, however they made it so that it was only accurate to a few hundred metres, enough that a plane knows roughly where it is.
However in May 2000, Bill Clinton signed an order to make it as accurate for civilians as for military. However you still cannot use it above 18km altitude and 500m/s speed so it can’t be used to make makeshift guided missiles.
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