Browse Resources by Country

Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) tags, in combination with GPS tracking, are slowly beginning to be used more in logistics. Because RFID tags can be read at small distances, their use would greatly simplify and automate much of the tracking work.

NASA’s Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) is designed to encourage private investment in space transportation. Currently, no privately developed rocket is capable of meeting NASA’s needs, but the agency is pursuing agreements for capability demonstrations and hopes to find a contractor for ISS resupply by 2010.

Applications of GPS technology have revolutionized air traffic control, shifting it from radar-based tools to more accurate and cost-effective systems using satellite technologies. In the United States, the airspace tracking system is called the Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) system.