Sat navs could fail by 2010

 

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By Stuart Turton and Barry Collins

Posted on 21 May 2009 at 11:52

Poor maintenance of the GPS satellites could result in the failure of sat nav systems from as early as next year.

The startling report comes from the US Government Accountability Office (GAO), which is responsible for monitoring how government money is spent.

The report claims the US Air Force - which is responsible for maintaining the GPS network - has fallen behind in its satellite replacement programme, and that people using GPS systems may experience "disruptions" from 2010.

"It is uncertain whether the Air Force will be able to acquire new satellites in time to maintain current GPS service without interruption," the report reads. "If not, some military operations and some civilian users could be adversely affected."

According to the report, the US Air Force is now three years and $870 million overdue on delivering the first stage of its GPS satellite modernisation program, dubbed GPS IIF, now due to launch in November.

To compound problems, the GAO is warning that the Air Force is being overly optimistic in its targets for deploying the IIIA satellites - which represent the second stage of its modernisation program.

"There is still a high risk that the Air Force will not meet its schedule for GPS. It is aiming to deploy the GPS IIIA satellites three years faster than the IIF satellites," says the report. "We believe that there is little room in the schedule to accommodate difficulties that the contractor or program may face."

The report goes on to warn that should the Air Force fall behind in its IIIA deployment plan then: "there will be an increased likelihood that in 2010, as old satellites begin to fail, the overall GPS constellation will fall below the number of satellites required to provide the level of GPS service that the US Government is committing to providing."

These problems, according to the GAO, are the result in a failure of leadership on the project, something which it believes needs to be corrected immediately.

"[The US secretary of defense] needs to appoint a single authority to oversee the development of GPS, including space, ground control, and user equipment assets, to ensure these assets are synchronised and well executed, and potential disruptions are minimised."