The new hardware may still be sitting on the launch pad, but the upgrade to the GPS system is under way (reports the LA Times). Now firmly entrenched in the smartphone world, the new target for GPS accuracy is not 20 feet but "an arm’s length" of about one foot, and it’s going to happen through a replacement program of 24 satellites over the next few years.

The 24 satellites that make up the GPS constellation — many of them built at the former Rockwell plant in Seal Beach — will be replaced one by one. The first replacement was scheduled to be launched from Cape Canaveral this weekend. The overhaul will take a decade and is being overseen by engineers at Los Angeles Air Force Base in El Segundo.

The beauty of this update to the system is that it doesn’t impact on any of the existing devices around the world but continues to refine the positioning capability. It’s far easier to be navigated to the front door of a hotel in an unfamiliar area rather than “it’s somewhere on this block.”

Pair up these changes with the A-GPS capabilities and Wi-Fi positioning on more smartphones and your location is going to more accurate, calculated faster, and even more useful in the future.

More at the LA Times.