The Past, Present, and Future of GPS.
As noted, the past of GPS is marked by the dominance of the US military. Since 1983, and especially since 1995, civilians have played an increasingly important role in the development of the industry, and public companies have played a more prominent role in the development of the technology. While the military continues to play the lead role in the furthering of the technology, the scales are certainly balancing. The civilian GPS market is estimated to be roughly $8 billion at present, and it is rapidly growing. The next generations of GPS satellites are already being designed, and there appears to be much stronger cooperation between publicly traded companies and the military than ever before. It seems obvious that the future of GPS will be led by market forces. Many already foresee all future vehicles being produced with GPS receivers embedded into the frames. This will allow greatly reduce the number of stolen vehicles and allow for far more sophisticated communication systems than exist at present.
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