SpaceX and Lockheed Martin recently launched a new GPS III satellite into orbit, which should eventually help your smartphone more accurately know where you are.
Of course, this could also be a bad thing depending on how much you use GPS on your device or if you’re worried about large companies collecting your location data.
The main improvement that these satellites bring is the ability to pinpoint a location within 9-inches. Previous GPS generation two satellites could only find your location within 29-inches, according to Inverse, so this will be a significant improvement once a full network of gen threes are orbiting the earth.
Getting these third-gen satellites into orbit is becoming increasingly crucial since all of the gen twos launched in the late 80s and early 90s.
Your GPS just got slightly better https://t.co/XsblUsiNXU
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 30, 2020
This is the third gen-three satellite to go into orbit since 2018, and there are plans to launch seven more. However, the dates when the next few are expected to launch are still unknown, with the only deadlines for all 10 to be in the sky by mid-2023.
This is a pretty significant update given GPS has become such an integral part of the many apps and games we use every day.
Source: Inverse
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