The 24 satellites are in 6 orbital planes, with 4 satellites per plane (http://www.colorado.edu/geography/gcraft/notes/gps/gif/orbits.gif).
2007-11-17 12:32:46 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
No. The spares are in specific orbital planes, and the plane for a satellite can not be significantly changed. BTW, there are now 31 satellites in orbit, not 27.
2007-11-17 13:56:02 · answer #1 · answered by morningfoxnorth 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Hi. They would need quite a bit of thruster fuel to reach an orbital plane they were not already in. But a minimum of 4 GPS satellites are required to determine position., so maybe they would only need to be activated.
2007-11-17 20:58:47 · answer #2 · answered by Cirric 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I don't know but they should.
Otherwise the system would degrade or collapse.
2007-11-17 21:06:26 · answer #3 · answered by PragmaticAlien 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋