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Scientists just voted to redefine how the world keeps time
(www.scientificamerican.com)
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this post was submitted on 15 Oct 2026
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Not true. My 2015 car uses gps satellites to determine its clock. In 2019 there was a gps week number rollover due to a 10-bit counter rolling over. My car hasn't had the correct time since and the manufacturer doesn't distribute update CDs for it. I can set the clock manually and even change the settings to not auto update, but it resets every time I turn off the car.
So while yes the satellites just count seconds, it's interpreted by other devices and the differences will confuse them.
But does the GPS work? Is it able to correctly locate your car on the map? There are other cool things we use GPS satellites for, but their purpose is to calculate the position on a globe. A Global Positioning System, if you will.
Irrelevant, you said the receivers didn't care, and they definitely need updates to read the GPS satellites' output correctly.