GPS (Global Navigation Satellite System developed in the USA) depends on satellites to be damaged by electromagnetic storms or military attack. Even with satellites intact, hacking incidents proliferate using inexpensive, readily available equipment.
GPS is vital to US citizens, but hacking has never been easier. The defense of the civilian global positioning system, an invisible utility that the federal government pays for, is in the hands of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. In January of this year, the US Department of Transportation published a report on technologies that could support GPS and prevent the country from getting up globally in a pinch.
According to the minister, the Department of Transport has ideas for creating GPS backup systems. But Congress has to allocate money for this.
Already three separate laws, the most recent being the Frank Lobiondo Coast Guard Authorization Act of 2018, mandate the Department of Transportation to provide GPS backup. The Lobiondo law required the minister to put in place a backup system by the end of 2020, but no funds were allocated for this, so the department did not introduce any system anywhere.
Despite the lack of money from the US Congress, a new DOT report lays out a roadmap. The department tested 11 technologies that could be used in the absence of GPS signals, including terrestrial radio signals, fiber networks for synchronization, Iridium satellites for encrypted signals, and Wi-Fi and cellular signals for localization. The DOT insists that Congress should disburse funds now.