GPS System Components

Global Positioning Satellite System has three parts that are both dependent and independent to one another. They are called segments and each segment has a hand in the basic processes such as data requesting, data transmitting, processing and retrieval or return. The three segments are the user segment, space segment and control segment. This delicate balance of monitoring and receiving data keeps the system in check.

The space segment is the most advanced and the most expensive out of the three. This segment collates a net of over twenty four satellites routinely making an orbit around the plant and covering an area of responsibility. The satellites are eleven thousand nautical miles away from each other and all of them have their own orbits that they follow. Orbitting takes 12 earth hours, and each satellite is equipped with clocks that keep track, making sure that the data transmission and allowance from each other is maintained. Bumping satellites is a lot more common, especially with the amount of space debris in the upper atmosphere.

The control segment consists of various ground stations here on Earth. They are observation towers/radio towers that are responsible for handling various data from the satellites. Data like their position and their time and of the area scoped as well. The master control station is located in Colorado, at the Schriever Air Force Base. Six other unstaffed stations located in Hawaii Kwajalein, Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean, the Ascension Island located in the Atlantic, Cape Canaveral in Florida and one more in Colorado. There are other large groudn antenna stations that send data for monitoring purposes and such to keep the satellites in working order.

The user segment are those that are being held by the people that use this system. They are called GPS receivers, as they receive data that is sent by the satellites and processed by the ground stations. There are at least a hundred of these models scattered around the world, from something as small as a wristwatch to those in a car. The smallest could weigh as little as an ounce.

The request sent in by the user is handled by the space segment. The space segment sends back data according to location by which the user would receive the fastest response time. Monitoring stations make sure that the satellites send integral data back to the receiver. All collected data is sent to the master control station for processing and storage. The ground antenna from the master control stations sends back critical data to the satellites to adjust in cases where it is needed.

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