The history of GPS remotes until the 1970’s when the Department of defense, but the idea of a GPS system came before that, the inspiration for GPS System came when the Russians sent the sputnik in 1957.
It was not until 1960 when transit, used by the navy was successfully tested. In 1978 the first experimental block GPS was launched, and in 1994 the full constellation of 24 satellites was complete. The most recent launch was in September 2005.