Global Navigation Satellite Systems Engineering, Policy, and Design
Matthias Petschke, European Commission Director of EU Satellite Navigation ProgramsAfter an organizational hiccup led to its cancellation last year, the “reloaded” Munich Satellite Navigation Summit 2014 successfully re-established the event as Europe’s leading forum for GNSS policy dialog.
By Inside GNSS
On Saturday (March 22, 2014) two geostationary L-band transponders, GEO-2s, were successfully launched on board the SES ASTRA 5B satellite from the European Space Port in Kourou, French Guiana.
The new generation transponders will provide higher accuracy positioning signals to both civil and professional users of EGNOS-enabled receivers and ensure the continuity and quality of the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) open service and safety-of-life services for the next 15 years, according to the European GNSS Agency (GSA).
By Inside GNSS
One of 12 magnetograms recorded at Greenwich Observatory during the Great Geomagnetic Storm of 1859
1996 soccer game in the Midwest, (Rick Dikeman image)
Nouméa ground station after the flood
A pencil and a coffee cup show the size of NASA’s teeny tiny PhoneSat
Bonus Hotspot: Naro Tartaruga AUV
Pacific lamprey spawning (photo by Jeremy Monroe, Fresh Waters Illustrated)
“Return of the Bucentaurn to the Molo on Ascension Day”, by (Giovanni Antonio Canal) Canaletto
The U.S. Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock at 2nd Space Operations Squadron, Schriever AFB in Colorado. This photo was taken in January, 2006 during the addition of a leap second. The USNO master clocks control GPS timing. They are accurate to within one second every 20 million years (Satellites are so picky! Humans, on the other hand, just want to know if we’re too late for lunch) USAF photo by A1C Jason Ridder. 
Detail of Compass/ BeiDou2 system diagram
Hotspot 6: Beluga A300 600ST
1. WHAT’S LOVE GOT TO DO WITH IT?
Detroit, Michigan USA
A. J. Van DierendonckThe world’s GNSS systems are entering a phase of transformation — modernization of existing systems (the U.S. Global Positioning System and Russia’s GLONASS) and development of new systems (China’s BeiDou and Europe’s Galileo) that benefit from the lessons learned from the original GNSSs.
Notable among the modernization initiatives is an interest in implementing new satellite signal designs. These include the GPS L5, L2C, and L1C signals as well as those signals designed for Galileo and BeiDou. GLONASS designers are also working on modernized signals.
By Inside GNSS
Article EquationsWorking Papers explore the technical and scientific themes that underpin GNSS programs and applications. This regular column is coordinated by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Günter Hein, head of Europe’s Galileo Operations and Evolution.
By Inside GNSS
In this article, we will take a look at the various GNSS signals from the perspective of their cost-benefit tradeoffs. First, we’ll look at the evolution of consumer GPS architecture to date — where acquisition speed and sensitivity have been the main drivers of receiver architecture. That architecture has evolved rapidly to take full advantage of the characteristics of the GPS C/A code.
By Inside GNSS
ESA Galileo IOV Test campaign authors, from left: Jörg Hahn, Stefano Binda, Edward Breeuwer, Roberto Prieto-Cerdeira, Marco Falcone, Alexander Mudrak, Gustavo Lopez- Risueño, Francisco Javier Gonzalez Martinez, and Daniel Blonski.The objective of the IOV phase was to launch the first four operational Galileo satellites and to deploy the first version of a completely new ground segment. During this phase, the European Space Agency (ESA) needed to validate — in the operational environment — all space, ground, and user components and their interfaces, prior to full system deployment. With the assistance of industry partners, ESA had to analyze the performance of the Galileo system and its components with the objective to refine the full operational capability (FOC) system.
By Inside GNSS
Sabine Dannelke, GSA Administrative Board chairperson. Inside GNSS photo by Peter Gutierrez Road transport has always been a key sector for European GNSS, but safety- and security-related applications bring special challenges along with the opportunities. European Union (EU) officials speaking at a conference in Brussels last week explained why.
“Road transport is largest GNSS market opportunity,” said Gian-Gherardo Calini, head of market development at the European GNSS Agency (GSA). “This is 46.2 percent of the current GNSS market. Road transport is the key market.”
By Inside GNSS
Paul Weissenberg, deputy director-genreal, EC DG EnterpriseLast week’s Conference on EU Space Policy in Brussels — under the theme, “What direction for Europe in space between now and 2020?” — featured spirited calls for closer cooperation and the formation of a united front as Europe moves towards early Galileo services at the end of this year.
Falling somewhere between a team-building exercise and a love-fest, the amiable and optimistic sentiments expressed by European space leaders reflected a marked change of tone from those in recent months.
By Inside GNSS
Demographic differences toward use of satellite navigation-guided automated vehicles. EC Eurobarometer poll, May-June 2013Results from a Eurobarometer poll released last week show general support for space activities among European residents, but intriguing national and demographic differences in attitudes toward GNSS-based automated vehicles.
By Inside GNSS
[Updated Feb. 6, 2014] The European GNSS Agency (GSA) is inviting European industries and European Union (EU) Member State Competent Public Regulated Service (PRS) Authorities to share their views and ideas in support of the adoption of the PRS.
In particular, industries with potential interests and capabilities to support the development of Galileo PRS user segment technologies such as receivers, security modules, dedicated infrastructure, and market enablers are encouraged to join the discussion.
By Inside GNSS
The ENAC (Ecole Nationale de l’Aviation Civile) course "GNSS: Principles, Augmentations and Evolutions of EGNOS" will be held at the ENAC Administrative Head Office in Toulouse, France on May 12 – 23, 2014.
Registration is now open.
By Inside GNSS
ESA Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain during his annual press briefing. ESA photo by S. CorvajaSpeaking at his annual press conference in Paris last Friday (January 17, 2014), European Space Agency (ESA) Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain was cool, collected and, importantly, positive, as he laid out plans and parried questions on a whole range of ESA issues. From the Rosetta mission to manned space flights, Swarm, Gaia, Sentinel and Copernicus, and of course Galileo, he set the stage for an ambitious 2014.
By Inside GNSS
