People who own a standalone GPS

American commercial space launches climbing as American standalone-GPS ownership collapses. Two completely unrelated industries on opposite trajectories: one rebuilding the orbital constellation, one losing a category to the smartphone. The Garmin retired; the Starlink launched.

FAA-licensed commercial space launches grew from a handful per year in 2007 to nearly 100 by 2022 as SpaceX, Rocket Lab, and others industrialised the orbital business. Standalone GPS device ownership has fallen steadily across the same window as smartphone navigation absorbed the function. Two completely unrelated lines on opposite trajectories sharing a window because the same fifteen years rewarded one space-industry expansion and retired one device category. Different navigators, separate fates.

Hardware retired in one corner. Hardware expanded in another. The decade was selective about which hardware lasted.