• ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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    2 days ago

    Calling GPS part of imperialism is a stretch. It was put in the air at no cost to another country and can be used without cost by anybody, but nobody has to use it. Other countries can launch their own satellites if they want, but they don’t because that’s expensive and GPS is free. The US isn’t making money off of it or exploiting another country with it.

    Yes, the US can jam it regionally when in conflict but of course why wouldn’t we? No reason to help the enemy.

    • KillingTimeItself@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      technically, originally the GPS system was private, until made public, where it had error obfuscation, until semi recently it was released fully.

      It was originally funded by the US government, still is, it’s just publicly accessible now.

      (the original usecase being for shit like ICBMs and what not, obviously)

    • ERROR: Earth.exe has crashed@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      2 days ago

      Other countries can launch their own satellites if they want, but they don’t because that’s expensive

      They do, and they did:

      EU (not a country, but still) - Galileo

      Russia - GLONASS

      China - BeiDou

      They all have their own.

      • ReluctantMuskrat@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        Thank you. I couldn’t remember the names and was rushing my comment before a meeting. I knew someone wouldn’t let that go without a correction.