Official U.S. government information about the
Global Positioning System (GPS) and related topics
Performance Standards & Specifications
These documents specify the levels of technical performance that users can expect from GPS and related systems.
GPS Standard Positioning Service (SPS) Performance Standard
This document defines the levels of performance the U.S. government makes available to users of the GPS Standard Positioning Service, also known as the civilian GPS service.
Download5th Edition (2.1 MB)
The 5th Edition of the GPS SPS Performance Standard, dated Apr 2020, is currently in effect and supersedes all prior versions.
Prior versions are provided here for historical reference purposes. These documents are no longer in effect.
- 4th Edition, Sep 2008 (1.6 MB PDF)
- 3rd Edition, Oct 2001 (2.1 MB PDF)
- 2nd Edition, Jun 1995 (1 MB PDF)
- 1st Edition, Nov 1993 (5.4 MB PDF)
Return to top of pageGPS Precision Positioning Service (PPS) Performance Standard
This document defines the levels of performance the U.S. government makes available to authorized users of the GPS Precise Positioning Service, also known as the military GPS service.
Download1st Edition (1.8 MB)
The initial release of the document, dated Feb 23, 2007, is currently in effect.
GPS Wide Area Augmentation System (WAAS) Performance Standard
This document defines the levels of performance the U.S. government makes available to users of the GPS SPS augmented by the Wide Area Augmentation System.
Download1st Edition (1.4 MB)
The initial release of the document, dated Oct 31, 2008, is currently in effect.
GPS Civil Monitoring Performance Specification
The purpose of this document is to provide a comprehensive compilation of requirements for monitoring the GPS civil service and signals based on top level requirements to monitor all signals all the time.
Download3rd Edition (900 KB)
The 3rd Edition of the document, dated Aug 14, 2020, is currently in effect and supersedes all prior versions.
Prior versions are provided here for historical reference purposes. These documents are no longer in effect.
- 2nd Edition, Apr 2009 (444.2 KB PDF)
- 1st Edition, Dec 2005 (626 KB PDF)
