Magellan Navigation

Magellan started as an independent company. It was once owned by Orbital Sciences Corporation, which purchased it in 1994. In 2001, Thales Group purchased the Magellan division of Orbital Sciences for about $70 million and the company became known as Thales Navigation. Five years later, private equity firm Shah Capital Partners and other investors purchased Thales Navigation for $170 million and the company was officially renamed Magellan Navigation.

Magellan was the creator of the Magellan NAV 100, the world's first commercial handheld GPS receiver, which debuted in 1989. In 1997, Magellan also introduced the first handheld global satellite communicator, the GSC 100. Later consumer handheld products included the Magellan GPS 2000, GPS 315, Meridian, SporTrak, and Magellan RoadMate models. The MobileMapper CE and ProMark3 have been marketed to professionals like surveyors and Geographic Information System (GIS) users.

The consumer division of Magellan was purchased by Mio Technology subsidiary of MiTAC on December 15, 2008, who changed the name to "MiTAC Digital Corporation".

Magellan develops and distributes vehicle navigation, crossover GPS, and outdoor handheld navigation products. The company also produces customized mapping software for topographic, marine, and street navigation.

Current GPS products as of 2016 include:

The Magellan RoadMate and Magellan Maestro series of portable car navigation systems

The Magellan CrossoverGPS for automobile and handheld navigation