Here lies a thought experiment, in the wild, of imagining a world where specific technologies or situations arise. This isn’t meant as a comprehensive overview, but rather a scratch-pad in the open.
What would happen when the Global Positioning System (GPS) degrades?
GPS is a low-earth orbit based system consisting of a constellation of satellites, with hyper-accurate atomic clocks, which rely on the radio receiver seeing four or more satellites in order to gain a fix on your location on Earth. It was built and maintained by the US Government, specifically by the Air Force, and can be shut off at anytime. Rival systems such as Russia’s GLONASS or China’s BeiDou Navigation Satellite or European Union Galileo positioning system, and India’s NAVIC are similar systems. We’ll use GPS as a shorthand for any system which gives us specific location on Earth for simplicity.
Imagine a world where GPS is degraded due to any reason, either as a tactical action during war, intentional sabotage, or neglect. What does this world look like?