The Global Positioning System: A Shared National Asset (1995)

Chapter: Department of Transportation

Visit NAP.edu/10766 to get more information about this book, to buy it in print, or to download it as a free PDF.
Previous Chapter: Department of Defense
Page 147 Cite Bookmark
Suggested Citation: "Department of Transportation." National Research Council. 1995. The Global Positioning System: A Shared National Asset. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4920.
Save
Cancel

by the Air Force.8 GPS research and development is managed by the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles Air Force Base. Testing and evaluation is conducted jointly by the Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation Center at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, and Air Force Space Command at Falcon Air Force Base, Colorado. Operations and maintenance also are managed by Air Force Space Command. Procurement and budgetary oversight for GPS are managed by Program Element Monitors within the space systems office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. Through fiscal year 1994, the cumulative procurement budget for the space and ground control segments of the GPS is approximately $3.5 billion; and research, development, testing and evaluation spending totals approximately $3.7 billion.9

DOD policy for the GPS program is set by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition and Technology, with the help of the DOD Positioning/Navigation Executive Committee. This committee receives input from all of the DOD commands, departments, and agencies, and coordinates with the Department of Transportation (DOT) Positioning/Navigation Executive Committee.

Department of Transportation

In response to a request from the DOD, and in order to meet the needs of civil GPS users, the DOT established the Civil GPS Service (CGS) in 1987. The CGS is operated and managed within the DOT by the Coast Guard and consists of the following: (1) the Navigation Information Service, which provides GPS status information to civilian users; (2) the Civil GPS Interface Committee, which provides a forum for exchanging technical information in the civil GPS community; and (3) the Civil PPS Program Office, which administers the program that gives qualified civil users access to the Precise Positioning Service (PPS) signal, used primarily by the U.S. and allied armed forces.

In May of 1993, the Secretary of Defense and the Secretary of Transportation agreed to examine the operational, technical, and institutional implications of increased civil use of GPS in order to satisfy both military and civilian needs. The resulting joint DOD/DOT task force concluded its work in December 1993 with the release of a report titled The Global Positioning System: Management and Operation of a Dual Use System - A Report to

8  

As with all other federally funded navigation systems, the ultimate decision-making authority over GPS operations, in peacetime and in wartime, is the National Command Authority, consisting of the President, or the Secretary of Defense with the approval of the President.

9  

These figures cover fiscal years 1974-1994, are in 1995 dollars, and have been provided by the GPS Joint Program Office. During this same period the military services have spent approximately $1.4 billion on the procurement of user equipment. The $10 billion figure that is often quoted for the total cost of GPS is based on total spending for all segments of the system through fiscal year 2002 consistent with current congressional direction.
Page 147 Cite Bookmark
Suggested Citation: "Department of Transportation." National Research Council. 1995. The Global Positioning System: A Shared National Asset. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/4920.
Save
Cancel
Page 147
Next Chapter: The Federal Radionavigation Plan
Subscribe to Email from the National Academies
Keep up with all of the activities, publications, and events by subscribing to free updates by email.