billso.com

One of my recent IS 6100 assignments addressed the Global Positioning System (GPS). Randolph Schmid of the AP reports that the system’s stability is threatened by powerful solar flares that are due to hit the earth sometime before 2011.

Recent findings indicate that the flares emit 10 times more radio frequency interference (RFI) than expected. The GPS satellites cannot broadcast a signal strong enough to overcome this static, and most civilian GPS receivers can’t filter out the solar noise.
The article also examines how IT has become dependent on GPS for a variety of tasks that have nothing to do with mapping, driving or transportation. Banks use the GPS atomic clocks to synchronize money transfers, for example.
In the end, the US government will have to replace the GPS satellites with stronger models, or tell users to buy new GPS equipment and antennas. My guess is that the latter plan will be suggested, unless the Department of Defense decides that GPS signal strength is a national defense priority.