GPS – abbreviation in English which is used for the system “Global Positioning System”.

This system belongs to the US government, initiated by the United States Department of Defense in 1973 for military needs. Since 1980 it has been allowed to be used for civil needs. In 1993 the number of 24 satellites was completed offering coverage all over the globe.

The GPS system is a complex system consisting of 24 or more satellites that stand in space at an altitude of 20,350 km above the earth’s surface. Each satellite orbits the earth twice a day to provide continuous coverage of the entire globe.

Satellites transmit radio waves through which they show their position, status, and the time of transmission from their atomic clocks. GPS radio waves travel in space at the speed of light (about 300,000 km / s). The GPS device we install receives the radio waves, compares the departure time of the waves with the arrival time, and thus calculates the distance from the satellite. The GPS device can simultaneously receive waves from up to 20 satellites, and does the time calculation for each one separately. Once the GPS device is able to calculate the distance from at least 4 satellites, it has the ability to determine its position on Earth with great accuracy through three-dimensional geometry.