Posted: Thu, Dec 16, 2004, 7:56 AM ET (1256 GMT)
The Bush Administration announced Wednesday a new national policy governing the Global Positioning System (GPS), one that could allow the government to shut down the system in the event of a national crisis. The "U.S. Space-Based Positioning, Navigation, and Timing Policy" replaces a Clinton-era GPS policy enacted in 1996. The policy is designed to improve oversight of GPS and to better promote the system as Europe develops its own satellite navigation system, Galileo. The policy includes the creation of an executive committee co-chaired by deputy secretaries from Defense or Treasury; it replaced the existing Interagency GPS Executive Board that included lower-level officials. The AP reported that the policy would also allow the President to shut down the GPS system "under only the most remarkable circumstances", such as to prevent terrorists from using the system to carry out an attack.

Related Links:

•  Reuters article
•  AP article
•  Space News article (subscription required)
•  Office of Science and Technology Policy fact sheet
•  United States GPS Industry Council press release