It's well known why we launch satellites near the equator, but why are the GPS control/monitor segments located near the equator at Hawaii, Ecuador, Florida, Bahrain, Ascension, Diego Garcia, Guam and Kwajalein?
For example:
Geographic Information Systems Stack Exchange is a question and answer site for cartographers, geographers and GIS professionals. It only takes a minute to sign up.
Sign up to join this communityIt's well known why we launch satellites near the equator, but why are the GPS control/monitor segments located near the equator at Hawaii, Ecuador, Florida, Bahrain, Ascension, Diego Garcia, Guam and Kwajalein?
For example:
They don't seem to be 'near the equator'. Roughly georeferencing the locations of the stations and looking at the distribution of latitudes:
Data (very rough, but OK for these purposes):
wkt_geom name lon lat
Point (-152.0 61.0) Alaska -152.0 61.0
Point (-61.6 76.4) Greenland -61.6 76.4
Point (-156.5 20.7) Hawaii -156.5 20.7
Point (-121.3 35.9) Vandenburg -121.3 35.9
Point (-103.3 37.3) Colorado -103.3 37.3
Point (-76.1 40.3) New Hampshire -76.1 40.3
Point (-76.5 37.4) Washington -76.5 37.4
Point (-80.5 27.9) Cape Canaveral -80.5 27.9
Point (-78.1 1.4) Ecuador -78.1 1.4
Point (-57.2 -34.8) Argentina -57.2 -34.8
Point (-1.2 52.7) UK -1.2 52.7
Point (50.3 25.0) Bahrain 50.3 25.0
Point (-10.4 -11.0) Ascension -10.4 -11.0
Point (26.9 -27.9) South Africa 26.9 -27.9
Point (127.7 35.4) South Korea 127.7 35.4
Point (72.0 -7.2) Diego Garcia 72.0 -7.2
Point (144.9 13.2) Guam 144.9 13.2
Point (138.3 -33.9) Australia 138.3 -33.9
Point (172.9 -41.3) New Zealand 172.9 -41.3
I assume that you're asking about the ground stations at Ascension, Diego Garcia and Kwajalein. The reason is pretty simple: they already housed US Air Force bases and complexes, as well as space launch tracking and ground infrastructure, and as the NAVSTAR system is operated by the AFSPC, it's only logical to place the ground stations in a place controlled and maintained by the US Air Force.
I don't think there is any technical demands to place these station as close to the equator as possible, it's rather a matter of money and military control.