The reassurance came after a General Accounting Office (GAO) review expressed concerns at the state of the network of satellites behind the system. It said that new satellites were not being launched fast enough to replace those lost to age and technical failure.
The report expressed concern that Boeing, which is building the next generation of satellites, has had major cost over–runs and years of delay. However, the Air Force says that 24 satellites are currently operational and others can be activated as needed.
"No, the GPS will not go down," tweeted Colonol. Dave Buckman of the Air Force's Space Command.
"The issue is under control. We are working hard to get out the word. The issue is not whether GPS will stop working. There's only a small risk we will not continue to exceed our performance standard."
He continued that a new satellite would be launched in August and another launch was set for next year.
GPS systems need to have line of sight contact with at least four satellites to establish a good positional fix, and academics have warned that the system is operating at the limits.
"The GPS constellation is skinny compared to what it should be," Per Enge, a professor of aeronautics and the director of the GPS Research Laboratory at Stanford University, told the Associated Press.
"No one can complain or state that the sky is falling right now," Enge said. At the same time, delays in launch schedules and funding are difficult to account for and it's possible that new satellite models could have problems that aren't discovered until they are in orbit.”