Political and economic dimensions of Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)

The evolution of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and Global Navigation Satellite Service (GLONASS) and the rise of Galileo may not be just a triumph of space based technology but in many cases may be a direct consequence of the national policies intended to promote political and economic interests. This can be argued by looking at the success of GPS and the US government's official policy to cooperatively work with other countries to promote GPS as the world's Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) standard. Originally, GPS started out as primarily a military system. It now commands an estimated 10 billion dollar commercial satellite navigation market. GPS use has exploded in many areas such as civil aviation, maritime, road applications, railways, and many non-transport applications. There are new applications continually being developed. This has spurred international efforts to capitalize on this emerging market.