About Stars and GPS

Did you know our complex modern technology is rooted in the sky?Join us for a talk with a world-leading astrophysicist to find out why.

Patrizia Caraveo is Director of Research at the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics. Her lifelong passion is the sky, and especially the stars, as they have shaped our history and culture, holding the key to our technological future.

Just think of the GPS on your smartphone.

Thanks to the satellites orbiting high above our heads, we can find any location in the world and pinpoint our exact position to within a metre.

Relativity-based calculations also allow satellite signals to empower the global economy by time-stamping financial transactions with supreme accuracy.

As Patrizia says, “the stars are always with us”, so our flawless technology has ancient roots.

  • France
  • Italy
  • Germany
  • Russian Federation
  • United Kingdom
  • United States of America
  • China
  • Switzerland
  • Ireland
  • Afghanistan
  • Albania
  • Algeria
  • Angola
  • Anguilla
  • Antigua and Barbuda
  • Argentina
  • Armenia
  • Aruba
  • Australia
  • Austria
  • Azerbaijan
  • Bahamas
  • Bahrain
  • Bangladesh
  • Barbados
  • Belarus
  • Belgium
  • Belize
  • Benin
  • Bermuda
  • Bhutan
  • Bolivia
  • Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Botswana
  • Brazil
  • British Virgin Islands
  • Brunei Darussalam
  • Bulgaria
  • Burkina Faso
  • Burundi
  • Cambodia
  • Cameroon
  • Canada
  • Cape Verde
  • Cayman Islands
  • Central African Republic
  • Chad
  • Chile
  • Colombia
  • Comoros
  • Congo
  • Cook Islands (NZ)
  • Costa Rica
  • Côte d'Ivoire
  • Croatia
  • Cuba
  • Curaçao
  • Cyprus
  • Czech Republic
  • Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • Denmark
  • Djibouti
  • Dominica
  • Dominican Republic
  • Ecuador
  • Egypt
  • El Salvador
  • Equatorial Guinea
  • Eritrea
  • Estonia
  • Eswatini
  • Ethiopia
  • Falkland Islands (Malvinas)
  • Faroe Islands
  • Federated States of Micronesia
  • Fiji
  • Finland
  • French Polynesia
  • French Southern Territories
  • Gabon
  • Gambia
  • Georgia
  • Ghana
  • Gibraltar
  • Greece
  • Greenland
  • Grenada
  • Guatemala
  • Guernsey
  • Guinea
  • Guinea-Bissau
  • Guyana
  • Haiti
  • Honduras
  • Hungary
  • Iceland
  • India
  • Indonesia
  • Iran
  • Iraq
  • Isle of Man
  • Israel
  • Jamaica
  • Japan
  • Jersey
  • Jordan
  • Kazakhstan
  • Kenya
  • Kiribati
  • Kuwait
  • Kyrgyzstan
  • Laos
  • Latvia
  • Lebanon
  • Lesotho
  • Liberia
  • Libya
  • Liechtenstein
  • Lithuania
  • Luxembourg
  • Madagascar
  • Malawi
  • Malaysia
  • Maldives
  • Mali
  • Malta
  • Marshall Islands
  • Mauritania
  • Mauritius
  • Mexico
  • Moldova
  • Monaco
  • Mongolia
  • Montenegro
  • Montserrat
  • Morocco
  • Mozambique
  • Myanmar/Burma
  • Namibia
  • Nauru
  • Nepal
  • Netherlands
  • New Caledonia
  • New Zealand
  • Nicaragua
  • Niger
  • Nigeria
  • North Korea
  • North Macedonia
  • Norway
  • Oman
  • Pakistan
  • Palau
  • Palestine
  • Panama
  • Papua New Guinea
  • Paraguay
  • Peru
  • Philippines
  • Pitcairn
  • Poland
  • Portugal
  • Qatar
  • Romania
  • Rwanda
  • Saint Barthelemy
  • Saint Helena
  • Saint Kitts and Nevis
  • Saint Lucia
  • Saint Martin (FR)
  • Saint Pierre and Miquelon
  • Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
  • Samoa
  • San Marino
  • Sao Tome and Principe
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Senegal
  • Serbia
  • Seychelles
  • Sierra Leone
  • Singapore
  • Slovakia
  • Slovenia
  • Solomon Islands
  • Somalia
  • South Africa
  • South Korea
  • South Sudan
  • Spain
  • Sri Lanka
  • St Maarten (NL)
  • Sudan
  • Suriname
  • Sweden
  • Syria
  • Taiwan
  • Tajikistan
  • Tanzania
  • Thailand
  • Timor Leste
  • Togo
  • Tonga
  • Trinidad and Tobago
  • Tunisia
  • Turkey
  • Turkmenistan
  • Turks and Caicos Islands
  • Tuvalu
  • Uganda
  • Ukraine
  • United Arab Emirates
  • Uruguay
  • Uzbekistan
  • Vanuatu
  • Vatican City State
  • Venezuela
  • Vietnam
  • Wallis and Futuna Islands
  • Western Sahara
  • Yemen
  • Zambia
  • Zimbabwe
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