Originally a closely held secret military system, GPS was made publicly available to the world as a safety tool after Korean Air Lines Flight 007 lost its way and was shot down over Russian airspace in 1983.

Since then, the remarkable capabilities of GPS have been applied to a wide variety of problems. The more than two dozen satellites that make up the system provide accurate locations within roughly 10 yards with simple unaugmented equipment and centimeter accuracy with more advanced technology.

It is also possible to navigate with the system -- that is keep track of a position and direction over time. New air traffic control systems are being planned based on just this capability.

It is, however, the third capability -- timing -- that likely will become the most widely used. GPS needs extremely accurate clocks to work. That timing information is in the signal and now is used to pace data packets on the Internet, keep power grids running smoothly, and support cell phone calls.

Since the GPS civilian signal is free and requires no signup there is no real way to know how many ways GPS signals are used. It is safe to say the number of systems -- water ways, public transportation and financial networks -- that now depend in some way on GPS is phenomenal.

So it is no surprise the White House declared GPS to be a component of critical infrastructure when it released its new policy Dec. 15. What is surprising is the new policy did so little to address chronic funding and management problems facing the GPS system.

GPS has been considered a dual-use, both a military and a civilian system, for years. It was supposed to be run jointly by the Defense Department and the Department of Transportation, as co-chairs of the Interagency GPS Executive Board.

Transportation, however, was the weaker partner in management of the system. Other civil users, who were supposed to coordinate their needs through that department, were less than well organized by Transportation and frequently frustrated. At times they felt the department put its programs first.

The biggest problem, however, was always money. None of the civilian agencies had room in their budgets to pay for enhancements to the GPS system that would have helped their programs.

The Federal Aviation Administration, Transportation's focal point for GPS efforts, was a favorite whipping boy of a Congress thoroughly annoyed with its poor management on other projects.

Civilian GPS projects had such a difficult time getting funded the strategic decision finally was made to move all funding under the umbrella of the Defense Department because it had an easier time getting its requests approved.

This, however, put Transportation and other civilian agencies in a position of having to depend on Defense to get their projects funded. Many times, even when it would have made sense for the country as a whole to put money into GPS, it didn't happen.

As civilian uses for the satellite ring grew, so did the clamor for a single agency to manage all the related systems. A single new agency would better coordinate the systems, the logic went, and could better defend the programs before Congress. It would also take the GPS program out the Defense Department where its budget was being siphoned off to support other programs.

The new policy, however, leaves in place that same dual management system. It also fails to give the civilian community any new mechanisms for funding.

The policy is still a step forward, a knowledgeable source, who asked not to be named, told United Press International. The new managing body, the National Space-Based Positioning, Navigation and Timing Executive Committee will be chaired by people at the deputy secretary level of Defense and Transportation. This automatically gives decisions made by the committee more support within the agencies, the source said.

The policy also gives Transportation a mandate to go get funding, the expert said.

In prior years it was the Office of Management and Budget that consolidated the GPS budget request at the Department of Defense, the source said, leaving Transportation without White House permission to go to Congress for GPS funds and, by extension, undermining its effectiveness.

While there remains no guarantee Transportation can get the money it needs, the expert said at least it will get the chance to try. Now (Transportation has) the opportunity to go fight for money, the source told UPI.

There also is a mandate in the policy that directs Transportation to make sure the U.S. GPS service meets or exceeds international performance standards. This provision is aimed squarely at the new Galileo navigation satellite service under development in Europe, the source said.

Galileo has advertised itself as providing a better service than GPS and, should Galileo be successful, it could split the market for satellite navigation services and fragment military users as well. This would have serious ramifications for both the commercial GPS industry in the United States and for the Defense Department, which needs its allies to have compatible equipment.

Meeting this quality mandate will likely require already planned enhancements for the GPS system be speeded up, the source said. This will require more money, which would likely have to come through Transportation. The details are up to the new committee to decide, the source added.

That is all well and good, but the new policy likely will be ignored, another expert who has been following GPS for some years told UPI.

The agencies are not legally obligated to follow the policy, the source said, and will ignore it as they have other policies in years past. Enhancements, he predicted, will not come more quickly.

Because this is a policy and not an executive order nothing will change, said the insider, who asked not to be named.

The agencies have put off upgrades in the past and, at least in the case of Defense, have benefited from doing so. Every year money is budgeted to launch more satellites but every GPS launch Defense can delay into another year is money back into its budget for other projects.

Unless new satellites are sent aloft, the quality of the GPS system will not advance. Old GPS satellites have worked so well for so long, however, the saved launch costs have become a backward revenue source for the agency. There is limited incentive to move any faster.

A third source familiar with Defense's plans agreed and, speaking on background, predicted little change for the program on the horizon.

A Defense spokesperson seemed to confirm that point of view, in a response to UPI that highlighted the latitude given to department to change -- or not -- by the new policy.

The policy provides flexibility based on the need or circumstances, the spokesman said. He noted launches could be either made as needed, as is now done, or sped up.

No upgrades currently are planned for satellites now in-hand for launch over the next few years, the spokesman said.

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