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1 INTRODUCTION
Over the last decade the Global Positioning System
has become a global, multifunctional tool which
provides services that are an integral part of U.S.
national security as well as the security of other
highly developed countries. Economic development,
transport security as well as homeland security are
important elements of the global economic
i
nfrastructure. In 2000 the United States
acknowledged the growing significance of GPS for
civilian users and stopped intentionally degrading
accuracy for non‐military signals that are known as
“Selective Availability”. Since then, commercial
applications of satellite systems have been
proliferating even more rapidly, and therefore, their
importance in everyday life has greatly increased.
Currently, services tha
t depend on information
obtainedfromtheGlobalPositioningSystemare the
driving force behind economic growth, economic
developmentandtheimprovementinlifesafety.
The document titled “U.S. Space‐Based
Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy”, which
was signedby thePresident of theUnited States on
December 15, 2014, states tha
t the U.S. Congress
intendstocontinuetodevelopservicesbasedonthe
GlobalPositioningSystem;thisdocumentalsopoints
tothepossiblerisksandthreatstonationalsecurityas
well as economic security. The widespread and
constantly growing dependence on satellite systems
aswellasmilit
ary,civil,andcommercialsystemsand
infrastructure makes these systems more vulnerable
to unexpected interruptions to the process of
Global Positioning System: Political Support,
Directions of Development, and Expectations
K.Czaplewski
GdyniaMaritimeUniversity,Gdynia,Poland
ResilientNavigationandTimingFoundation,USA
ABSTRACT: Over the last decade the Global Positioning System has become a global, multifunctional tool
whichprovidesservicesthatareanintegralpartofU.S.nationalsecurityaswellasthesecurityofotherhighly
developed countries.Economic development, transport security aswell as homeland security are import
ant
elements of the global economic infrastructure. In 2000 the United States acknowledged the growing
significanceofGPSforcivilianusersandstoppedintentionallydegradingaccuracyfornon‐militarysignalsthat
are known as “Selective Availability”. Since then, commercial applications of satellite systems have been
proliferat
ing even more rapidly, and therefore, their importance in everyday life has greatly increased.
Currently,servicesthatdependoninformationobtainedfromtheGlobalPositioningSystemarethedriving
force behind economic growth, economic development and the improvement in life safety. This economic
development would not be possible without the financial and polit
ical support of the US government to
maintaintheoperationoftheGPSsystem.Thereforeitisimportanttohaveknowledgeabouttheintentionsof
theUSgovernmenthowsystemGPSwillbedevelopedinthefuture.Decisionstakeninthelast3monthsare
thesubjectofthi
sarticle.
http://www.transnav.eu
the International Journal
on Marine Navigation
and Safety of Sea Transportation
Volume 9
Number 2
June 2015
DOI:10.12716/1001.09.02.10
230
performing standard services. The United States
mustsandwantstocontinuetoimproveandmaintain
theGlobal PositioningSystem byexpanding backup
functionsinordertomeetthegrowingneedsrelated
to the safety of using this system for military, civil,
economicandscientificpurposes.
Moreover, since there are different
requirements
for different applications, there is a need for stable
policy that would be implemented through flexible
management strategies. The document dated
December 15, 2014 defines the extent to which
national and GPS management policies are to be
modified. These policies are aimed to support the
system’s capability to meet
the growing, diverse
domestic and international requirements. This
document defines the basic goals and objectives of
thispolicy:”(…)Thefundamentalgoalofthispolicy
is to ensure that the United States maintains space‐
based positioning, navigation, and timing services,
augmentation, back‐up, and service denial
capabilitiesthat:
1 provide uninterrupted
availability of positioning,
navigation,andtimingservices;
2 meet growing national, homeland, economic
security,andcivilrequirements,andscientificand
commercialdemands;
3 remain the pre‐eminent military space‐based
positioning,navigation,andtimingservice;
4 continue to provide civil services that exceed or
are competitive with foreign civil space‐
based
positioning, navigation, and timing services and
augmentationsystems;
5 remain essential components of internationally
accepted positioning, navigation, and timing
services;
6 promote U.S. technological leadership in
applications involving space‐based positioning,
navigation,andtimingservices.(…)”
These goals will still be pursued by using the
existingorganizationalstructure(Fig.1).
Figure1.GPSmanagementstructure[4].
The National Executive Committee For Space‐
Based PNT is the most important body in this
structure. This body ensures that scientific and
business communities follow the U.S. government’s
guidelines and fulfill its expectations. The National
Space‐Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing
(PNT) Advisory Board provides independent advice
totheU.S.government
onGPS‐relatedpolicythrough
the Executive Steering Group. What is more, it also
manages programs and funding profiles connected
with the current state of national and international
servicesprovidedbytheGPSsystem.
2 CURRENTACTIVITYOFTHEU.S.NATIONAL
SPACE‐BASEDPOSITIONING,NAVIGATION,
ANDTIMING(PNT)ADVISORYBOARD
Apart from managing current programs, the PNT
Advisory Board mainly deals with planning and
monitoring the development of domestic and
international services related to using satellite
navigation. It is commissioned to explore research
topics and carry out other tasks by the Space‐Based
PNT National Executive Committee. The National
Space‐Based
PNT Advisory Board’s members are
non‐governmental experts on satellite systems who
are elected for a term of two years. The Advisory
Boardiscurrentlycomposedof:
1 expertsfromindustryandacademiccommunities,
who are given the status of federal employees
duringtheAdvisoryBoard’smeeting:
Bradford Parkinson (Chairman), Stanford
University,
ThadAllen,BoozAllenHamilton,
PeninaAxelrad,UniversityofColorado,
JohnBetz,MITRE,
DeanBrenner,Qualcomm,
JosephD.Burns,SensurionAerospace,
PerK.Enge,StanfordUniversity,
MartinC.Faga,MITRE,
JamesE.Geringer,ESRI,
RonaldR.Hatch,consultanttoJohnDeere,
RajivKhosla,ColoradoStateUniversity,
PeterMarquez,PlanetaryResources,
Terence J. McGurn, private consultant (retired
CIA),
TimothyA.Murphy,TheBoeingCompany,
RuthNeilan,JetPropulsionLaboratory,
T.RussellShields,Ygomi;
2 international representatives who have been
appointedtospeakonbehalfofparticularinterest
groups:
Gerhard Beutler, International Association of
Geodesy(Switzerland),
Elizabeth Cannon, Canadian Aeronautics and
SpaceInstitute(Canada),
AnnCiganer,GPSInnovationAlliance,
Arve Dimmen, Norwegian Coastal
Administration(Norway),
Matt Higgins, International GNSS Society
(Australia),
HiroshiNishiguchi,JapanGPSCouncil(Japan),
RafaatM.Rashad,ArabInstituteofNavigation
(Egypt).
The Advisory Board’s meetings have been held
everysixmonthssince2007.OnDecember10‐11,2014
the U.S. National Space‐Based Positioning,
Navigation,and Timing(PNT) AdvisoryBoard held
its 14
th
meeting in Washington. During these two
days, a total of 27 presentations were given. These
were performance progress reports concerning tasks
thathadbeenassignedtoworkinggroupsaswellas
information about the current scope of activities
carried out by institutions that cooperate with the
PNTAdvisoryBoardor
areitssubsidiaries.