In a statement from the US Press Secretary ‘the President accepted the recommendation of the Department of Defense to end procurement of Global Positioning System (GPS) satellites that have the capability to intentionally degrade the accuracy of civil signals’.

Selective Availability was introduced by the US Military to make civilian GPS signals less accurate. Then in 2000 Selective Availability was turned off, which led to the growth of GPS technology for civilian use that we see today.

This decision means that future GPS satellites will not be required to be Selective Availability enabled, ensuring that it is permanent. Although GPS technology is firmly entrenched in consumer electronics, aviation, shipping and new products daily there was concern that with the option to turn Selective Availability back on it was a possibility.

View the complete statement by the Press Secretary here

 Keep on cachin’!