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From Military to Civilian Use

Although the Global Positioning System was originally intended for use by the U.S. military, GPS tracking has been available for use by the civilian American population for over twenty years. At first, the military deliberately lowered the quality of the signals received by the civilian population in order to protect itself and its technologies. However, once the military developed the technological ability to block potential enemies from using the system, the U.S. government allowed the general public full access to GPS tracking technology.

Japan Perfects GPS Tracking Technology

GPS technology is expanding in every way – through new devices using GPS tracking , manufacturers finding new ways to implement GPS technology in their products, and even to other nations. Japan’s space department just recently installed the first of three new satellites for civilian use. The Japanese system is called the Quasi-Zenith Satellite system, and will use signals from both Japanese and American satellites to improve the reception of Japanese GPS devices.

Partly because of the island’s rough terrain, Japanese GPS tracking units have not had good reception in the past, and the rural Japanese areas are not the only areas experiencing weak GPS signals. As ironic as it may seem, people in crowded high-tech metropolises like Tokyo have also received faulty information from their GPS tracking devices because of the tall buildings interrupting satellite signals.

Japan hopes their new system will give almost perfectly accurate information to users. The Japanese Space Agency also hopes to offer GPS users reception in areas of the country that previously did not get signals, such as the mountainous regions. Soon there will be no area of the world where GPS satellites will not be able to locate a person or object. Some GPS users are concerned about the privacy issues increased GPS technology might raise, but many are excited about the wider reception and increased accuracy the new satellites will provide once installed.

Article Written by Greg Bartlett