The first Navstar GPS satellite launches

node

The first Block I development satellite of the Navstar Global Positioning System reached orbit, beginning a validation programme intended to give the United States military a global, all-weather, passive positioning capability. Passivity was the crucial design choice: a receiver only listens, so an unlimited number of users can be served at no incremental cost and no user reveals its position by using the system. That property is what later made a military system into free global infrastructure.

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Space EconomySpace

Evidence · 1

GPS.gov — official US government information about the Global Positioning System

Timeline

No dated observations are stored for this object. Atlas shows what was observed and when — it does not infer a history.

Connections · 2

GPS (Navstar Global Positioning System)concerns
Global navigation satellite systemsconcerns

Assembled narrative · 1

An assembled narrative is available for this object.

Observed changes · 0

No public Signals are attached to this object. Signals show what changed and when it was observed — never a direction or a rank.

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/atlas?object=EVT_GPS_FIRST_LAUNCH_1978