Global Positioning System (GPS) Celebrates 30th Anniversary  -11/21/23

Schriever Space Force Base will host a media opportunity on Saturday, Dec. 9, 7:30 – 9 a.m., to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the Global Positioning System (GPS) and allow members of the press to get a behind-the-scenes tour of the GPS operations floor. This year also marks the 50th anniversary of the Global Positioning System program. In December 1973 the Defense Systems Acquisition Review Council (DSARC) gave the U.S. Air Force approval to proceed with the development of the Navstar Global Positioning System.  

This rare opportunity provides a firsthand experience of the nerve center where precision navigation is orchestrated, showcasing the technological marvel that has shaped the world’s wayfinding landscape over the past three decades. Originally developed by the U.S. Department of Defense, GPS has provided America and the world innumerable and incalculable benefits to include enabling precise location tracking for users across the globe and has played a pivotal role in shaping the technology and fostering innovation for countless sectors.  

The GPS constellation reached initial operating capability (IOC) on Dec. 8, 1993. Initially developed for the military to meet a critical need for determining precise location on the battlefield, GPS has become an integral part of technology affecting the lives of billions of people worldwide. Today, the U.S. Space Force operates the GPS satellite constellation as a global utility – available to everyone anytime, anywhere on Earth.  

 Ensuring GPS as the unparalleled global standard for Position, Navigation, and Timing falls under the PNT Integrated Mission Delta, which was activated on Oct. 13, 2023. IMDs are part of a new provisional Space Force construct that integrates acquisitions around space mission areas, orienting all aspects of mission area readiness, from personnel to sustainment, within a single organization under the leadership of a command team with the experience to oversee all facets of the IMD’s mission.     

Shifted from Space Operations Command, the 2nd Space Operations Squadron and instructors from the 8th Combat Training Squadron, formerly aligned under Space Delta 8, along with Guardians from Space Delta 7’s 71st Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance Squadron moved to the new organization. Space Systems Command shifted over the D III launch operations function, OCX program office, and GPS product support and sustainment to the new organization.      

The PNT Delta commander, 2nd SOPS commander, and other representatives from the PNT Delta are scheduled to be available for interviews.   

Today, Schriever SFB, part of Space Base Delta 1, is home to Space Deltas 6, 8, 9, 15 and PNT, Joint Task Force – Space Defense, the Missile Defense Integration and Operations Center and others, and is responsible for the command and control of scores of Department of Defense warning, navigational and communications satellites.  

For more information on the PNT Delta, visit https://www.petersonschriever.spaceforce.mil/About-Us/SpOC-Deltas/PNT-Delta-Provisional/