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GPS
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GPS satellite
Know how GPS satellites guide airplanes, cars, and even cell phones
Navstar
How are gravitational waves applied in science and in everyday life?
Learn how a farm in Upper Bavaria uses tractors equipped with the GPS navigation system for farming
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Global Positioning System summary
Quizzes
Sextant. Celestial navigation at sea. Sailor using sextant. Travel and navigation.
Travel and Navigation
GPS satellite
GPS satellite U.S. Navstar Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite in orbit over Earth, shown in an artist's conception.

GPS

navigation
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Articles from Britannica Encyclopedias for elementary and high school students.
Also known as: Global Positioning System
Written by
Tom S. Logsdon
Rocket science consultant and instructor. Author of Understanding the Navstar: GPS, GIS, and IVHS and Orbital Mechanics: Theory and Applications among others.
Tom S. Logsdon
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

GPS, space-based radio-navigation system that broadcasts highly accurate navigation pulses to users on or near Earth. In the United States’ Navstar GPS, 24 main satellites in 6 orbits circle Earth every 12 hours. In addition, Russia maintains a constellation called GLONASS (Global Navigation Satellite System), and in 2007 the European Union approved financing for the launch of 30 satellites to form its own version of GPS, known as Galileo, which began operations in 2016. China...

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