13 April 1960: the first satellite navigation system is launched

On this day in 1960, Nasa sent the Transit 1B satellite into orbit to provide positioning for the US Navy’s fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines.

These days, satellite navigation systems are everywhere. Even the meanest smartphone can be used to guide you to your destination. Type in where you want to go, switch off brain, and follow the arrows. Only losers and old people use maps these days.

Satnavs aren't perfect, of course. They can cause irritation to residents when their normally quiet streets get marked as a handy shortcut for unsuitably large lorries. And they regularly cause hilarity when we hear of another inattentive fool who's driven into a river or off a cliff because that's what the satnav told them to do.

And the whole thing began on this day in 1960 when Nasa sent the Transit 1B satellite into orbit. The satellite was designed to provide positioning for the US Navy's fleet of Polaris ballistic missile submarines, a task it performed for over 30 years. It was superseded by America's Global Positioning System, the GPS known and loved by smartphone users the world over.

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But GPS isn't the only system in town. The Soviet Union launched its Glonass system in the late 1960s. Now run by Russia's armed forces, it was the second system to achieve whole earth coverage.

China's BeiDou system has been operating since 2000. And India has its IRNSS, which provides coverage over the sub-continent. The EU isn't being left behind either – it has its Galileo system, in which the UK, having spent around £10bn on, is no longer involved.

Ben Judge

Ben studied modern languages at London University's Queen Mary College. After dabbling unhappily in local government finance for a while, he went to work for The Scotsman newspaper in Edinburgh. The launch of the paper's website, scotsman.com, in the early years of the dotcom craze, saw Ben move online to manage the Business and Motors channels before becoming deputy editor with responsibility for all aspects of online production for The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday and the Edinburgh Evening News websites, along with the papers' Edinburgh Festivals website.

Ben joined MoneyWeek as website editor in 2008, just as the Great Financial Crisis was brewing. He has written extensively for the website and magazine, with a particular emphasis on alternative finance and fintech, including blockchain and bitcoin. 

As an early adopter of bitcoin, Ben bought when the price was under $200, but went on to spend it all on foolish fripperies.