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Fifty years after its design and approval by the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), the GPS is facing the risk of losing its status as the world’s leading location service. An assessment of China’s version of GPS, known as BeiDou, reveals that it may surpass the capabilities of the GPS system. China’s BeiDou is part of the country’s efforts to join the ranks of leading nations and gain a geopolitical advantage worldwide. The BeiDou constellation, which is newer and more advanced than other systems, has more satellites and monitoring stations, resulting in greater accuracy, especially in the developing world.

China’s ability to provide superior positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) information through BeiDou can influence other nations’ economies and exert diplomatic, economic, and military power. The U.S. government, however, does not fully recognize this new form of great power competition. China’s strategy of encouraging other countries to use its signals and purchase specialized equipment poses a threat to the U.S. economy and its leadership in GNSS technology. The Chinese government’s subsidies for equipment purchases further exacerbate this issue.

Recent developments in China’s BeiDou system, such as the launch of additional satellites and the two-way messaging feature, have raised concerns about potential surveillance capabilities. The two-way messaging feature reveals user locations and other data, making it a potential tool for surveillance. With the increasing use of BeiDou in applications for cellphones and autonomous vehicles, more user data is being transmitted.

While the U.S. military is upgrading GPS with modern satellites to provide more precise coordinates, the next-generation civilian GPS service is not expected to be available for several years. GPS, originally developed for the DOD, has become a critical global infrastructure with a wide range of applications beyond its military use. In addition to GPS and BeiDou, there are other global navigation satellite systems (GNSS) such as Russia’s Glonass and the EU’s Galileo, as well as regional systems from Japan and India.

Despite the advancements in technology by other countries, the U.S. military affirms that GPS continues to be the gold standard in its field. It remains the leader in integrity and is the only system accepted for international flight use. The U.S. Space Force is working on upgrading GPS with modernized satellites that provide more precise coordinates and less interference. However, delays and funding issues have slowed down the deployment of these satellites.

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