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WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com - The U.S. government plans soon to upgrade technology satellites global positioning system (GPS) to improve the accuracy and reliability. Total money spent for it to reach 8 billion U.S. dollars.

Currently the GPS uses 24 satellites that orbit Earth at an altitude of about 11,000 miles (about 17 500 km) to support its navigation systems on the entire surface of the Earth. However, to perform location determination requires only 3-4 away from the nearest satellite GPS signal receiving device.

The satellites will be replaced one by one gradually to avoid interference. The project was done by Boeing and Lockheed Martin. There are 30 satlit made with 6 in reserve.

The new satellites have the ability to emit a signal up to three times the old satellite. Device at the satellite are also more sophisticated with more accurate atomic clocks with accuracy up to billionth of a second and faster processing. Determining the location of the error rate can be twice as better than the current capacity by a margin of error of about 6 meters.

GPS was originally developed by the U.S. military 30 years ago for military purposes only. However, in its development, its services opened to the public, though still controlled by the Pentagon. Many countries seek rival the GPS such as the European Union, Russia, and China. However, until now practically the only GPS satellite navigation system the most reliable and comprehensive.