GPS OCX Delayed, Again
The Air Force is weighing its options for a new GPS ground system after a detailed review last week revealed the system would be further delayed — perhaps to as late as 2023.
By Inside GNSSThe Air Force is weighing its options for a new GPS ground system after a detailed review last week revealed the system would be further delayed — perhaps to as late as 2023.
By Inside GNSSThe constant growth and evolution of the positioning, navigation, and timing (PNT) market generate demands for more and more added-value applications and services relying on GNSS signals, with expectations for improved accuracy and availability. Some services may also rely on added-value content other than navigation messages, for example, higher data volume with less latency, such as the data carried by satellite-based augmentation system (SBAS) services and the Galileo Commercial Service.
By Günter W. HeinSpeakers at the low-in-profile but high-in-content International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague this year threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions.
By Peter GutierrezSpeakers at the recent International Association of Institutes of Navigation (IAIN) conference in Prague threw into stark relief some of the big GNSS programs and even bigger GNSS questions.
Prof.-Dr. Günter Hein, former head of the European Space Agency (ESA) EGNOS and GNSS Evolution Program Department and Emeritus of Excellence at University FAF Munich, delivered a fact-filled and level-headed presentation on the status of Galileo, the European Union’s civil-owned and non-military GNSS, with slides and information provided by ESA.
The United Launch Alliance (ULA) send-off of the 12th GPS Block IIF satellite scheduled for next February 3 may turn out to be the last GPS launch for the Boeing/Lockheed Martin joint venture — at least for a while. ULA did not submit a bid to launch the next generation of GPS satellites (GPS III).
By Inside GNSSThe new GPS ground control system’s cascading delays and ballooning budget have the Department of Defense (DoD) looking at other options, including shifting to an enhanced version of an existing control system, Inside GNSS has learned.
The Next Generation Operational Control System (OCX), which already has more than doubled in cost, will be the focus of a second “Deep Dive” review before the DOD’s top acquisition official on December 4.
By Inside GNSSSome 15 years ago, Bob Denaro predicted the disappearance of GPS into its various applications.
That prediction by the former Trimble/Motorola/Navteq executive has largely been validated. Although GPS has survived in the popular consciousness as a global brand, connoting an almost magical source of location and tracking, general recognition and understanding of GNSS as a core technology within products and services has, indeed, remained murky.
By Inside GNSSThe U.S. Air Force GPS Directorate released a final request for proposal (RFP) for Global Positioning System (GPS) III Launch Services today (September 30, 2015).
Launch services include launch vehicle production, mission integration, and launch operations for a GPS III mission scheduled to launch in 2018. Proposals are due back to the Air Force no later than Nov. 16 in accordance with the solicitation instructions.
The Munich Satellite Navigation Summit and exhibition will take place at the Residenz Muenchen in Munich, Germany on March 1 – 3, 2016.
Register here.
The theme for this year’s summit is “GNSS: Creating a Global Village”.
By Inside GNSSWith experience in satellite procurement, user equipment development and working with Congress, Col. Steven Whitney may be just the chief the GPS Directorate needs.
By Inside GNSSA new federal watchdog report released yesterday (September 9, 2015) questions the outlook for the still-developing GPS ground control system saying the Pentagon may not fully understand the true cause of ongoing problems in a program where further delays “may likely pose significant risks to sustaining the GPS constellation and delivering GPS capability.”
By Inside GNSSThe current stage of GLONASS evolution is aimed at meeting future user requirements of which the most important is the improved accuracy of positioning.
During the implementation of the GLONASS Space Segment Modernization Program (2012–2015), the GLONASS team is facing the situation in which it is not feasible to launch new navigation satellites because the existing constellation is comprised of GLONASS-M satellites operating beyond their guaranteed design lifetime. Nine more GLONASS-M satellites are in ground storage.
By Inside GNSSMost folks look to a new year as an opportunity for fresh starts and new projects. For the GPS community, however, the October 1 start of the 2016 federal fiscal year (FY16) will likely be more about the hangover — that is, the issues that are hanging over into the next 12 months, unresolved.
At the top of that list of unfinished business are two system decisions: a go/no-go determination on whether the United States will build eLoran as the U.S. backup to GPS and deciding whether or not to choose a new contractor for the GPS III program.
By Dee Ann Divis