---
title: "NASA is Launching a GPS System for Space"
description: "NASA is about to send its \"Deep Space Atomic Clock\" into the emptiness of space to help autonomous spacecraft know where they are."
date: "2019-06-04"
modified: "2019-06-04"
authors:
  - name: "Victor Tangermann"
    job_title: "Senior Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-deep-space-atomic-clock"
categories:
  - "NASA"
  - "Space"
tags:
  - "atomic clock"
  - "JPL"
  - "NASA"
  - "SpaceX"
  - "the digest"
---

# NASA is Launching a GPS System for Space

![](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/nasa-deep-space-atomic-clock.png>)
*\<em\>Image: NASA\</em\>*

## Atomic Clock

NASA is about to send its ["Deep Space Atomic Clock"](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7415>) into the emptiness of space — where it'll help spacecraft figure out where they are, like a cosmic GPS system.

The toaster-sized system is set to launch aboard a SpaceX Heavy Falcon rocket scheduled to launch from NASA's Kennedy Space Center on June 22. It measures how long it takes for a signal to go from one point to another and that information can inform a spacecraft where it is located.

## Counting Atoms

The project is the first atomic clock of its kind that will fly beyond Earth's orbit, [according to NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7415>) — and that might end up helping spacecraft with navigation a lot more than Earth-orbit atomic clocks. But it will first spend a full year in Earth's orbit before venturing further into deep space.

"A clock that is off by even a single second could mean the difference between landing on Mars and missing it by miles," reads a NASA statement. "In ground tests, the Deep Space Atomic Clock proved to be up to 50 times more stable than the atomic clocks on GPS satellites. If the mission can prove this stability in space, it will be one of the most precise clocks in the universe."

**READ MORE:** [Five Things to Know about NASA's Deep Space Atomic Clock](<https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7415>) \[JPL\]

**More on atomic clocks:** *[A New Quantum Atomic Clock May Finally Reveal the Nature of Dark Matter](<https://futurism.com/a-new-quantum-atomic-clock-may-finally-reveal-the-nature-of-dark-matter>)*

## Author
I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/vtanger.bsky.social>)