Who Controls GPS & Can The US Government Turn It Off During Military Operations?

The Global Positioning System, or GPS, is used by millions of people around the world every day for everything from directions to delivery tracking. But do you ever wonder how GPS works or, more importantly, who's really in charge of it? There's one key player pulling the strings behind the scenes, and in certain situations, especially during military operations, they have options you might not expect.

GPS is owned by the U.S. government and run by the Department of Defense, or DoD. It's paid for by taxpayers and built to support both military and civilian needs. While the government has the power to turn off GPS and theoretically could, there's never been any indication that it's ever happened. With GPS being monitored on a daily basis globally, any shutdown would be hard to miss, and there has never been solid proof that civilian access has been intentionally blocked. The system has remained consistently available, even during times of conflict.

The DoD did, however, put new rules in place for military users, banning the use of GPS features on devices in deployed areas. The 2018 decision restricts fitness trackers and apps that log location data, which could reveal sensitive information, like troop movements or base locations, to outside parties.

The military depends on the Global Positioning System, or GPS, for everything from targeting to logistics, but so do power grids, phone networks, and even ATMs. While the U.S. has made progress in upgrading this military invention we use every day, many experts warn that it's still too vulnerable to attacks from enemies who see space as a strategic weak spot.

One of the biggest concerns is how easily GPS signals can be jammed or spoofed. These attacks don't require something dramatic like blowing up satellites; instead, they interfere with signals by blocking them or faking them entirely. For example, recent conflicts in places like Ukraine and the Middle East have seen spoofing and jamming used to disrupt navigation and hide troop movements.

But the military is fighting back against these attackers by installing specialized anti-GPS jamming gear originally developed for fighter jets. These compact devices help protect artillery and missile systems from signal interference, making sure they can still find their targets even when the signal is under attack. While these efforts focus on military gear, keeping GPS secure ultimately helps protect the critical systems we rely on every day.