GPS Failing

Is it true that our GPS Satellites are deteriorating and there is no good fix?

Every machine we make deteriorates; to suggest that GPS satellities are deteriorating is a truism. They are subjected to cosmic rays, solar radiation, thermal cycling as they move in/out of earth’s shadow, and impact by micrometeoroids. Their solar panels degrade over time, as do their batteries. In short, yes, they have a limited life span, just like everything else.

As for whether there is no good fix, well, that depends what you mean by “no good fix.” It’s a simple (albeit not cheap) matter to fabricate and launch replacement satellites.

Wall Street Journal - June 2009

I think the above illustrates the OPs concern.

However, the article is more than six months old. At the same time military needs for ongoing GPS haven’t diminished. Unless the military is going to just stand there, do nothing, and watch their bombs and missiles miss their marks more and more (endangering non-combatants more and more), and potentially raising the ire of foreign governments (“Oopsie, we missed that target by just that much …”), the issue is more of a red herring than anything else.

The article indicates a single, recently-launched, brand-new satellite of a new type is putting out crappy signals - not due to deterioration/aging, but due to a flawed design in which one signal is interfering with the others. The article further states that (as of last June) this satellite has not been placed into service. IOW, the existing GPS system is currently just fine.

The article’s final quote:

The sky is not falling. :smiley:

They’ve actually never stopped launching GPS satellites. If I counted the wiki page correctly, there have been 58 successful GPS sat launches with another 12 starting to be launched this year. Block III sats are also on the drawing board so there are long term plans to keep GPS alive.

Even if the US military drops the ball on keeping GPS up & running, the EU is ramping up its Galileo system, which is supposed to be GPS-compatible.