THE LONG-AWAITED US Government policy statement on civil use of the global-positioning system (GPS) has guaranteed continuous, worldwide, availability free of direct user charges. The USA will also stop deliberately degrading civil-GPS signals within the next four to ten years, enabling commercial-receiver accuracy to increase to 20m from 100m.
The policy opens the door to bilateral and regional agreements on the exploitation of the GPS by foreign governments.
"International customers can now make confident investment decisions," says the US GPS Industry Council (USGIC). The Council is urging the Government to start discussions with Japan, the Asia-Pacific region and Europe.
The President Decision Directive, issued on 29 March, is intended to promote worldwide acceptance of the GPS and encourage US private-sector investment in GPS products and services. The policy is also intended to protect US security by directing the military to develop resources to operate without the protection of selective availability - the deliberate degradation of civil signals - and measures to prevent the hostile use of the GPS "...without unduly disrupting or degrading civilian uses".
A permanent inter-agency GPS executive board, jointly chaired by the US Departments of Defense and Transportation (DoD and DoT), will manage the GPS. The DoD will continue to acquire, operate and maintain the system, while the DoT will develop and implement civil augmentations. "Beginning in 2000, the President will make an annual determination on continued use of selective availability," the policy says.
"We look forward to the early removal of selective availability, since this will significantly enhance, the built-in integrity features for the civilian user," says the USGIC.
Under the policy, the US Government will advocate acceptance of the GPS, and items such as the Federal Aviation Administration's wide-area augmentation system, as international standards.
Source: Flight International