Satellite Navigtion Timeline

1957

When the Soviets launched the first artificial Earth satellite, "Sputnik 1", it soon became apparent to researchers that radio transmissions from a satellite could actually be sued to pinpoint the position of a receiver back on planet Earth.

1970s

Originally developed by the US Air Force in the early 1970s, the Global Positioning System network was initially off limits to civilians though was later released as an encoded version, which was much less accurate than the full military version.

Over time and with additional technological advances, the GPS network has become increasingly more accurate as more satellites have been added to the system. There is now a total of 24 satellites in the system; 21 active with three spares.

1990s

Furthermore, rubidium and cesium atomic clocks have been developed to measure the speed of radio waves more accurately, allowing your exact location to be pinpointed to within a few feet.

The inclusion of better mapping systems by manufacturers and increased battery life allow GPS systems not fitted within the car to be highly portable - especially useful when moving between vehicles or on holiday around the world.

Present Day

Members of the European Union are currently developing their own network of satellites called Galileo, so not to be solely dependent on the American owned system. Russia and China are also developing their own independent systems for their own military purposes.