CDDIS_GNSS_satellite_data

The Global Positioning System, developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, has been fully operational since 1994. GPS consists of a constellation of 24 satellites and three active spares each traveling in a 12 hour circular orbit, 20,200 kilometers above the Earth.

The satellites are positioned so that six are observable nearly 100 percent of the time from any point on the Earth. The GLObal NAvigation Satellite System (GLONASS), managed and deployed by the Russian Federation, is similar to the U. S. Global Positioning System (GPS) in terms of the satellite constellation, orbits, and signal structure. GNSS receivers detect, decode, and process signals from the GNSS satellites.