[IGSMAIL-2135] White House announcement on GPS Modernization

[forwarded by Jim Ray]

******************************************************************************
IGS Electronic Mail      Tue Jan 26  4:59:40 PST 1999      Message Number 2135
******************************************************************************

Author: White House (forwarded by Jim Ray)
Subject: White House announcement on GPS Modernization


                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release                                        Contact:
Monday, January 25, 1999                                (202) 456-7035

                       VICE PRESIDENT GORE ANNOUNCES
          NEW GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM MODERNIZATION INITIATIVE

Initiative Would Make Global Positioning System More Accessible to Civilian
                                   Users

     Washington, DC -- Vice President Gore announced today a $400 million
new initiative in the President's balanced budget that will modernize the
Global Positioning System (GPS) and will add two new civil signals to
future GPS satellites, significantly enhancing the service provided to
civil, commercial, and scientific users worldwide.

     "The United States is proud to be a leader in the development of the
Global Positioning System -- a wonderful example of how technology is
benefiting our citizens and people around the world," Vice President Gore
said. "This initiative represents a major milestone in the evolution of GPS
as a global information utility, and will help us realize the full benefits
of this technology in the next millennium."

     This initiative is only the most recent step in an ongoing
public-private effort to make GPS more responsive to the needs of civilian
users worldwide.  National and regional GPS-based networks are now being
created by governments and industry around the world to help guide
everything from planes, trains, ships, and cars to tractors, snowplows,
earthmovers, and mining equipment.

     As announced by Vice President Gore last March, the second civil
signal will be located at 1227.60 MHZ along with the current military
signal, and will be available for general use in non-safety-critical
applications.   The President's Budget supports implementing this new
signal on the satellites scheduled for launch beginning in 2003.

     Key to the overall modernization initiative was a recent White House
decision on the frequency for a third civil signal that can meet the needs
of critical safety-of-life applications such as civil aviation.  The third
civil signal will be located at 1176.45 MHZ, within a portion of the
spectrum that is allocated internationally for aeronautical radio
navigation services, and will be implemented beginning with a satellite
scheduled for launch in 2005. This initiative will cost $400 million over
six years. The date that new services will be available to users will
depend on the actual launch dates, orbiting sufficient numbers of
satellites to provide useful services, and maintaining operational
capabilities.

     When combined with the current civil signal at 1575.42 MHZ, the new
signals will significantly improve the robustness and reliability of GPS
for civil users, and will enable unprecedented real-time determination of
highly accurate position location anywhere on Earth.  This new capability
will spur new applications for GPS, further expanding the rapidly growing
market for GPS equipment and services worldwide.

                                    ###


[Mailed From: Jim Ray (USNO 202-762-1444) <jimr at maia.usno.navy.mil>]