ABSTRACT
Of the plethora of technologies developed during the Cold War, few would proceed to have such a substantial and lasting effect on cartography as the Global Positioning System (GPS). The availability of GPS has wholly transformed the processes of surveying and mapping in recent years and the technology is now an indispensable tool for professional and amateur cartographers alike. The development of the NAVSTAR GPS programme, more simply referred to as GPS, began in 1973, and the system has been fully operational in its current form since 1995. The space segment of the GPS currently consists of 31 satellites, known as the 'baseline constellation'. The control segment of the GPS consists of a series of ground facilities which control and track the satellites, while monitoring the data being transmitted from them. As GPS receivers are incorporated into an ever-increasing variety of commercial devices and Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs), the growth of the user segment is likely to continue.
