Space: March 25, 2004

Archives

The 50th GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite was launched on March 21st. The launch was delayed a bit to prevent the 2.2 ton satellite from running into some space junk. Thousands of larger bits of space debris (from thousands of earlier satellite launches) are tracked by earth based telescopes and radars, and launches scheduled to avoid running into the stuff. The first GPS satellite was put into orbit in 1978, and the March 21 launch was to replace a satellite put up in 1993. There are 27 working GPS satellites in orbit to provide GPS navigation service world wide. 

X

ad

Help keep us a float!

Your support helps us keep our ship a float. We appreciate anyway you chose to help out. Visit us daily, subscribe, donate, and tell your friends.

You can support us in the following ways:

  1. Subscribe to our daily newsletter. We’ll send the news to your email box, and you don’t have to come to the site unless you want to read columns or see photos.
  2. You can contribute to the health of StrategyPage.
  3. Make sure you spread the word about us. Two ways to do that are to like us on Facebook and follow us on X.
Subscribe   Contribute   Close