GPS has become so ubiquitous I honestly forgot that it was something that could be owned. It is cool to see some competition in the GPS world.
GPS systems are not so much 'owned' as 'paid for'.
And designed and maintained...
China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
51–60 of 80 posts
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#52"We are likely to see an increased bifurcation of the world into two camps - 'pro-China' and 'pro-US'", says Blaine Curcio, founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting Why do some people view it as a with-us-or-against-us problem? Combining beidou with GPS gives a better accuracy. Some competition and collaboration in the GPS field can benefit us as a whole.
> "We are likely to see an increased bifurcation of the world into two camps - 'pro-China' and 'pro-US'", says Blaine Curcio, founder of Orbital Gateway Consulting Why just two? If our stranglehold on the world breaks, the EU and Russia are easily capable of carving out their sphere of influence. People really underestimate how populous and wealthy and powerful the EU is. It's strange how the narrative changes in suc…
The EU is wealthy but has limited power projection. Only France and the UK can realistically be considered great powers, and even then not on the scale of the US, China, or Russia.
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#53It’s interesting and odd to me that Beidou requires two-way communication, as opposed to other satellite tracking systems where the receivers are purely passive and satellites only transmit, not receive. Is there an explanation for why this was done?
Yes, first generation beidou were mandatory two way, to do crypto handshake. The Party wanted "more control," just as usual. The idea was realisedly lunatical even back then, but party boffins really though that reality and laws of physics will yield to party's mandate.
It’s not about “more control”. The first beidou was two way mainly because they need some kind of satellite phone functionality.
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#54No one seems to have mentioned that the US has actually blocked GPS signals before for military reasons (during the Kargil war in 1999): https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/How-Kargil-...
There's a good reason and precedent for China (and others; see GLONASS, IRNSS, Galileo) to be afraid of this.
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#55Earlier quoted context omitted.
You are right that COCOM is not the issue, but there are other measures. The new military M code transmitted from the latest satellites is encrypted with a frequently changing key, so in the event of a war the DOD can disable the civilian signal as the M code will work standalone, hence a third party nation cannot rely on GPS. The previous P(Y) code was also encrypted, but is theorised to need the civilian C/A code a…
> so in the event of a war the DOD can disable the civilian signal as the M code will work standalone, hence a third party nation cannot rely on GPS. They also had the option in older satellites of turning on selective availability, which would degrade the civilian location service from 5-meter to 100-meter accuracy without affecting the military service. Purportedly newer GPS satellites don't have the option anymore…
> Purportedly newer GPS satellites don't have the option anymore.
That does sound suspiciously like something the military would want you to believe
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#56No one seems to have mentioned that the US has actually blocked GPS signals before for military reasons (during the Kargil war in 1999): https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/How-Kargil-... There's a good reason and precedent for China (and others; see GLONASS, IRNSS, Galileo) to be afraid of this.
No, the US has never done any blocking in the GPS system. The article refers to a request by India for access to the military GPS signal and military equipment, which was not granted.
The US, as well as virtually all other technological powers, does have the capability to jam GPS signals using ground, sea, or air-based jamming platforms but those are not part of the GPS system.
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#57Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#58No one seems to have mentioned that the US has actually blocked GPS signals before for military reasons (during the Kargil war in 1999): https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/How-Kargil-... There's a good reason and precedent for China (and others; see GLONASS, IRNSS, Galileo) to be afraid of this.
No, the US has never done any blocking in the GPS system. The article refers to a request by India for access to the military GPS signal and military equipment, which was not granted. The US, as well as virtually all other technological powers, does have the capability to jam GPS signals using ground, sea, or air-based jamming platforms but those are not part of the GPS system.
Yup it did - I was flying aerial surveying at the time. Bad timing. Actually I didn't notice anything in the end so was all good but when I saw the NOTAM I couldn't believe my bad luck.
Edit - link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2016/06/07/us_military_testing...
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#59No one seems to have mentioned that the US has actually blocked GPS signals before for military reasons (during the Kargil war in 1999): https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/How-Kargil-... There's a good reason and precedent for China (and others; see GLONASS, IRNSS, Galileo) to be afraid of this.
No, the US has never done any blocking in the GPS system. The article refers to a request by India for access to the military GPS signal and military equipment, which was not granted. The US, as well as virtually all other technological powers, does have the capability to jam GPS signals using ground, sea, or air-based jamming platforms but those are not part of the GPS system.
The United States actually does have the ability to selectively degrade signals. I don't know enough to comment on this capability in more detail (another comment seems to indicate that it is through jamming). A relevant excerpt (from 2000) is below:
> Additionally, we have demonstrated the capability to selectively deny GPS signals on a regional basis when our national security is threatened.
https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/at...
Re: China's GPS 'rival' Beidou
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, first generation beidou were mandatory two way, to do crypto handshake. The Party wanted "more control," just as usual. The idea was realisedly lunatical even back then, but party boffins really though that reality and laws of physics will yield to party's mandate.
It’s not about “more control”. The first beidou was two way mainly because they need some kind of satellite phone functionality.
That what was said to the populace. In reality, first gen beidou sats already had functionality to provide atomic clock signal and advanced station keeping. The accuracy was quite lower than from leo GPS sats, but still.
The explanation that beidou 1 was a glorified, super expensive satellite pager, with navigation functionality as an afterthought does not hold water. This "explanation" came much later than the commencement of beidou 1 project.