529 million for one bird that is estimated to last 15 years and it takes a minimum of 4 to get any type of a decent position fix. Due to orbit spacing this would probably mean that until 12 or more are launched this "improved" system will be non-operational.

Maybe there should be a third line added to the graph showing alcohol consumption or some other "vices". Perhaps something else more damning to children has declined. I'm not one to applaud getting "hooked" on anything but kids will be kids and if their not using nicotine it will probably be something else. It is up to the parents to educate them not blame a corporation for making money.

Spent a pretty good deal of time leaning about cryptogrophy and security devices like Yubikey. I love technology but it is more of a hobby than anything.

Have to agree with others that the title of this article is misleading. Positioning satelites have been deployed by different countries for many years and the truth is the US "birds" are in various stages of disrepair. Yes they have launched some new updated SV's (space vehicles) but not enough to offset the advantages provided by a full constelation of high end, new tech, units. The true "war" revolves around selective availability which is controlled by each individual entity. It is important to note that positioning quality does not improve based strictly on the number of satelites a receiver can see but more so the configuration of the satelites that are available at any given time. In some cases less is actually more and the difference would never be noticible to the average consumer.