GPS may break in 2010

High in orbit around the Earth is a family of satellites forming the GPS network – if you’ve got yourself a sat-nav device such as a TomTom, this network of satellites supply your navigation device with the vital positioning information. A report just out shows that unless things change PDQ, your GPS navigation device might hit a snag from 2010…

A report handed to the US Government states that the plans to replace the aging GPS satellite network is slipping, due to technical problems, and the launch of the first replacement satellite is now over 2 years late. The project is also seriously over budget.

The onus is on the US Air Force to ensure that the GPS system stays up and running, and there’s now an increasing risk of data inaccuracy, and blackouts if the existing system starts to fail and isn’t replaced.

Worrying times for those of us who’ve lost the ability to read a map…