• A new, third-generation GPS satellite adds two new signal types and improves accuracy and signal strength.
  • The Lockheed Martin satellite was launched by SpaceX.
  • GPS began in the 1970s, but all satellites in use today are second- and third-generation technology.

Elon Musk tweeted this week that a new SpaceX-launched satellite in orbit has already improved your GPS. Is that true?

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GPS is a decades-old technology by now, beginning with the first Navigation System with Timing and Ranging (NAVSTAR) satellite in orbit in 1978. By 1993, a net of 24 satellites blanketed the world in a way that allowed the satellites to triangulate locations and distances.

The newer generations of GPS satellites represent better technology not just at the accuracy level, but in terms of expected lifespan and other GPS uses like timing. All of the original generations of GPS satellites are decommissioned as of 2019, and today, there are 29 “generation II” GPS satellites and 2 “generation III” satellites.

Historically, something called Selective Availability reserved the best-performing GPS signals for government use, and it’s true that the government still uses the most extreme cutting edge of GPS capability. But Selective Availability was discontinued in 2000, and today, the military and government sequestration of GPS capability is limited to having their own section of signals—the same as with terrestrial radio, 5G, and more.

So the most precise and cutting-edge Generation III GPS capability is what Musk is discussing. Earlier this week, a new SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket successfully launched a U.S. Space Force satellite from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The new and improved GPS III SV03 navigation satellite, developed by Lockheed Martin, is replacing an aging satellite currently in orbit.

The new satellite takes the overall pinpoint accuracy of GPS “from 28 inches to a very precise nine inches,” Inverse explains. It also has improved security measures and other features, representing simply the way the science has improved in 20 or 30 years.

GPS III supports two new kinds of signals: L2C and L5. L5 is where civilian GPS will get a tuneup: “Through a technique called trilaning, the use of three GPS frequencies may enable sub-meter accuracy without augmentations, and very long range operations with augmentations,” the government explains. Trilaning will likely use L1, L5, and a third signal band in order to triangulate signals.

L2C is designated for commercial use, which could mean everyone from major contractors to telecoms. Having another signal type available to these groups, the government says, can lead to better surveying, more accurate models for construction, and much more.

Where GPS for civilians will improve on the navigation system level (and, as Inverse points out, Pokemon Go), L2C will bring commercial measuring down to an even finer grain in applications where that can save time, money, and manpower.

The signals from generation III satellites are eight times stronger, with improved security and much longer lifespan. And while you might not notice an immediate change in the accuracy of your built-in GPS or Google Maps on your phone, the improved accuracy and robustness at every level will help make your life run just a little more smoothly going forward.

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Caroline Delbert

Caroline Delbert is a writer, avid reader, and contributing editor at Pop Mech. She's also an enthusiast of just about everything. Her favorite topics include nuclear energy, cosmology, math of everyday things, and the philosophy of it all.