The Commercialization of the Global Positioning System

In April of 1973, a memorandum issued by the Deputy Secretary of Defense consolidated two experimental satellite navigation programs into one effort: The NAVSTAR Global Positioning System was born. After 22 years and $8 billion dollars, the system was finally declared fully operational in 1995.

In 1983, a Reagan Administration directive authorized civilian use of the system. Evidence, however, shows that civil access to GPS was intended all along. Since the Reagan decision, the civil market has grown exponentially, and is predicted to exceed $8 billion in the year 2000. By 1995 alone, civil users outnumbered military users by ten to one.

While civil access is permitted, its users are subject to an intentionally degraded signal called "selective availability" that restricts accuracy to 100 meters. Civil users resent the degradation policy and have resorted to differential GPS techniques to evade the accuracy restrictions. Some commercial providers claim their subscription services allow accuracies close to 45 centimeters. The Department of Transportation is also in the differential GPS business, providing maritime and aviation augmentations. By Presidential decision, selective availability will be removed within ten years.